From the Darkest of Shadows
by Enjay64
Summary: Told from Sothe's point of view, it's a story from when he and Micaiah first meet up, and goes through to the end of Fire Emblem Path of Radiance.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: Nevassa**

Running down an old alleyway in the backstreets of Nevassa he glanced over his shoulder. It seemed he'd finally escaped the wrathful guards that had been chasing him since he'd left the market. In one hand he held a loaf of bread that he'd just pilfered from a stall, in the other, a rusty dagger covered in blood. He completed the last leg of his journey in a measured walk, a small limp just barely noticeable. He came to the side of an unremarkable, decrepit old building that he quickly scaled with practiced motions. Once atop it he sat down under an old bag that served as both a roof and a place to carry his stolen goods. He quickly tore into the bread; it was for him a rare commodity.

He'd lived all over Nevassa for as long as he could remember. He'd never stay in one place for too long, if you did that the guards would eventually recognize and catch you. There were so many street orphans like himself that he witnessed at least one being caught every week or so, and those captures were enough to remind him about the importance of keeping a low profile. No one knew he existed, and that was just the way he liked it. Throughout his past there were a few times where he'd associated with the various "gangs" of the city. Those experiences had, without exception, ended badly. So now he lived alone and, as far as he knew, would continue to do so forever. The world however rarely obliges to act as we expect it to, as the young boy would soon learn.

The next morning he packed up his meager belongings and climbed down from the building, leaving no evidence that he'd ever been there. Heading east down the alley, he didn't have a specific place in mind yet, but he knew he'd like to be on the other side of the marketplace by tonight. Once he'd set up his new camp (this time in an abandoned house), he headed into the market for his one meal of the day. Looking around, he darted under a food stall manned by an older shopkeeper. The brown haired man appeared to be depressed and kept longingly looking up at the richer, more high-class section of the marketplace. This inattention gave Sothe plenty of time to take enough food to last him about a week. Once he was finished and the brown haired merchant was once again staring at the more well off sellers while sadly stroking his goatee Sothe jumped out from under the cloth-covered stall and made his way through the crowd unnoticed by both the merchant and the guards.

Unfortunately someone had seen him, an old man yelled out "thief!" and pointed at him. Turning around the thief took off without a backwards glance as the guards and several of the merchants took off after him. Turning down a side alley he tried to make his way into the slums of Nevassa where he knew they'd never find him. Fate was truly against him that day however and the guards managed to cut him off. Turning to retrace his steps he found that the shopkeepers were barring his path, although the merchant from whom he'd stolen the food did not appear to be among them. As he was unable to speak he instead tried to motion them out of the way. The merchants ignored his silent request and remained rooted there while the guards advanced behind him.

They'd given him no choice, if he didn't act now the guards would catch and kill him. Growing up in a world that had shown him no kindness, he lived by one rule: survive, whatever the cost nothing is worth more than your life. Running full speed at the merchants he jumped and stabbed one through the chest, bringing him to the ground in a pool of blood, none of it his own. Jumping over the body as the other shopkeepers recoiled in horror and the soldiers began to give chase he ran once again into the heart of Nevassa. His eyes were like sharpened steel, cold and unperturbed.

* * *

The death of the merchant had caused surprisingly few ripples, perhaps because just a few years prior Daein was swept by a deadly plague that had killed off much of its population. Within a few days he was up and about in the market again, searching continuously for food. On one particularly foggy morning the boy was wandering around when he noticed a stall that made him stop dead in his tracks. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason he felt drawn to the stall and its owner. As he got closer to the stall he noticed its occupant was a fortuneteller. Although he didn't yet know it, his fate, and that of Tellius, had been irrevocably changed as soon as he set his eyes on her. At first glance she appeared to be an old crone with long grey hair and a small, sad smile. Suddenly he regained his senses and quickly turned away from her, not wanting her to notice that he had been walking, entranced, towards her.

He left the market place quickly after that, empty-handed. The next day however he couldn't help but return to that very spot. This time however he situated himself behind and slightly to the left of her stall so she wouldn't notice him. For over a week he'd go there every day and just watch her, mesmerized. He couldn't hear what she said to people, and even if he could he wouldn't be able to understand her, but he did notice her clients always left happier than when they'd come. He also noticed that she, despite having many customers, didn't usually walk away with very much money. Most of the time she either wouldn't take their money, or she'd take it and then give most of it to the small children who always ran up to play with her. After this had been going on for some time she finally broke the silence,

"Come here, little one. Please, don't be afraid," she said without turning around.

He recoiled at that. For one thing her voice was kinder than any he'd ever heard before; it was so soft and welcoming. For another the voice belonged to that of a young girl, not an old woman, he realized. After several minutes he finally crept out of the shadows and into the early morning light. Approaching her warily, he stopped a few feet away from her, not yet ready to close the remaining distance.

"My name is Micaiah," she prompted gently, "what's yours?"

After a few second delay,

"… Sothe," he said quietly.

"That's a beautiful name, Sothe," she said as she lifted her hood to reveal not grey he saw, but shining silver hair and amber eyes.

Sothe was slightly dazzled at this image of seeming perfection. For surely only an angel could be this lovely?

"Would you like to sit down?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Although he couldn't understand her words, the meaning was inescapable. Unsure at first, he hesitated. He'd lived in the dark for his whole life, born and raised far from people's watchful eyes. It was hard for him to let go from the comfort and safety of those shadows. He unspoken promise though, to heal a hole within him he hadn't even known existed, was enticing. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, and possibly ever would do, but eventually he steeled himself enough to close that final distance and slip his hand into hers.

She immediately noticed how small his hands were, small, and shaking. Smiling up at him, he sat down next her at her table. Together they ate a lunch made up of bread and fresh fruits, sitting in companionable silence. Sothe couldn't have said much even if he'd wanted to, and Micaiah could sense what he needed now was company, rather than words. Sothe stayed with her the rest of the day, watching her read people's fortunes and enjoying her company more than he'd willingly admit. After the market closed and Micaiah began to pack up her stall Sothe slipped away before she could say anything. They'd come far today, that much was clear. But Sothe hadn't learned to survive on the street by taking unnecessary risks. He'd ease himself into this at his own pace, and Micaiah was perfectly content to let him do so.

* * *

For the next year Sothe's day primarily consisted of nabbing a quick breakfast shortly after sunrise, and then making his way over to Micaiah's stall and staying there with her until the market closed, whereupon he would return to the his beloved alleys. The two did very little talking, at first because Sothe couldn't, although Micaiah set out straight away to rectify the problem. In between each fortune telling she would teach Sothe different words and do her best to explain their meaning. Even though he couldn't yet speak anything besides his name, he knew a fair number of words that were used in the market (i.e. food, water, guards, sale, etc.), so she wasn't starting from scratch. After a little less than a year Sothe was more than able to hold his own in a conversation, and had to ask for Micaiah's help only infrequently. After he became more or less fluent in the common tongue he still didn't talk very much with Micaiah, or anyone for that matter. This however was simply because he'd spent his formative years in complete silence and therefore felt more comfortable expressing himself by action rather than through speech.

Besides speaking lessons Micaiah and Sothe spent most of their time telling each other about themselves and their pasts. Sothe learned that Micaiah had grown up far away from Nevassa, hailing from the south by the Daein-Begnion border. She, like him, was an orphan who couldn't remember her parents. Even though she worked as a fortuneteller, she couldn't really predict the future, at least, not on command. Sometimes she said she'd get blurry visions of the future, and these, she claimed, always came true. This power, as well as the enjoyment she derived by making people happy, was why she decided to become a fortuneteller in the first place.

During the one day a week the market closed Micaiah and Sothe usually spent their time together walking around the city. Not the back alleys Sothe lived in, but rather the nicer, upper class parts that were filled with some truly beautiful architecture and statues of old war heroes. Sothe couldn't really care less about the architecture, but he always found his curiosity piqued by the history behind the statues. He, like most of the street orphans, always dreamed about joining the army. As a soldier you'd have money, a place to live, and true freedom (they imagined). Because to them that is what the sword symbolized, it gave you power, if you wanted something, you could fight for it. As a soldier if someone ordered you to do something you had a choice, the sword, and the sword alone, gave you that choice. Sothe often dreamed about one day becoming a famous general and leading his army to fantastic victories in far away lands.

Micaiah smiled to herself at Sothe's fascination with soldiers and the army. She always resented their existence, because to her it showed humanity had a long way to go before it became truly civilized. And because a feeling in the pit of her stomach told her Sothe might just get his wish. Although Micaiah didn't yet know it, her prophecy was spot on, as usual. Eventually the world would be ripped apart not once, but twice by continent-wide wars, and at the heart of these events would be Sothe and Micaiah, amongst others. War however lay far in the future, and for now, Micaiah and Sothe's biggest concern was getting food for their next meal (which granted is a pretty big concern).

* * *

Business had been going well that day. Micaiah had had so many clients she almost wished there weren't so many people coming to her so she could focus on teaching Sothe, although he had been showing a lot of improvement lately. She'd also recently found out that Sothe had never been outside of Nevassa in his life. She hadn't told Sothe, but throughout her already long life she had travelled much of Tellius. She placed a strong value on seeing different peoples and cultures, and the concept of being stuck in one city your whole life was entirely alien to her. She wasn't even planning on staying in Nevassa that much longer, but she and Sothe could cross that bridge when the time came. For now she would content herself with taking him out to see some of the countryside for a day.

After they got through the wall marking the end of the city-limits Sothe felt a little exhilarated. He had of course seen outside Nevassa when he was standing on the rooftops, but to actually be out here with all this open space in front of him. Despite the child part of him, or whatever was left of it, telling him to go running off into the distance, preferably yelling, he resisted the urge. The more practical part of his mind, the one that had kept him alive all these years, told him to be wary of this new environment. With all this open space he felt like he might just float off at any moment, there was nothing to keep him grounded here, no shadows to hide in.

"Come on," said Micaiah, "there's a mountain about an hour's walk south of here where we can eat lunch,"

They spent the whole day walking around, first they hiked up a mountain, then they explored a small forest, and finally Micaiah took him to a river to cool down in. Sothe had never spent this much time moving and by the end of it he was exhausted. He was relieved when he dropped into the running water, it felt like the river was sweeping away all of his troubles. For once he could just relax and forget about his bloody past. After he got his energy back Micaiah tried to teach him how to swim, but stopped fairly quickly. It was apparent Sothe had neither the natural ability nor the inclination to learn it, at least in any timely manner. Sothe did have a lot of fun in a splashing fight with Micaiah however, and before they knew it the sun was beginning to set in the distance.

"See Sothe? That wasn't so bad. A little fresh air and a walk in the countryside can really do a person wonders," Micaiah said as the two started their walk back to Nevassa.

"I guess it was all right," Sothe replied, "I still prefer the city though,"

"Well of course, you've lived there your whole life. I don't expect you to just drop everything and come live out here. I just want you to be more open to different things. Now come on, if we don't hurry we won't make it back by nightfall, and then you really will have to sleep out here,"

* * *

"I foresee you will one day become a great soldier, renowned all over Tellius for your combat prowess. I can see your father is already a great general and has high hopes for you as well. But always remember, you are neither your father nor his property. Follow your heart, both on and off the battlefield, and it will take you far," Micaiah told a redheaded dragon rider who was on her way to join the Daein army.

"Thank you, seer. How much do I owe you?" the redhead asked.

"It was my pleasure, no pay is necessary," Micaiah said, waving away the proffered gold. "And what about you, sir knight?" she asked the girl's one eyed companion, "Would you like to know what the future holds for you?"

"I already know what it is. Following around my master's daughter while I dream about being able to sleep. It's what I've been doing all day, and will continue doing for the rest of it, I'm sure. I don't need a glorified con artist to tell me that,"

"Please excuse my companion. It's not that he doesn't know how to be polite; he's just too lazy to do so," the redheaded knight said as she slapped the man on the back of his head. "Anyway, thank you for your services," she finished with a bow before angrily pushing her companion away, who appeared to have fallen asleep.

"You see that Sothe, those two were Daein wyvern riders. Some day you'll be able to join the army, just like them," Micaiah told Sothe as the two soldiers walked away.

"I'm beginning to re-think that particular dream. The one eyed knight looked like he'd be just as likely to fall off his wyvern as hit his opponent,"

"He's much stronger than he looks, I think. Much like you," she added as an afterthought.

"Um… Thanks, I guess," he said, unaccustomed to being complimented.

"Not at all. Well, I'm going to go try and find us something to eat for lunch, keep an eye on the stall will you?"

"You trust me to watch your money?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't trust anyone with my money more than you. I'll be back soon, good luck," she said, walking away.

"I don't know what she's thinking," Sothe said to himself as he sat down, "I could run away with all her money if I wanted to, and she'd never catch me,"

After a quarter of an hour an old man and a small girl, approached the stall.

"Would you be kind enough to read my granddaughter's fortune, soothsayer?" the old man asked Sothe.

Sothe was about to tell him to go away and that he couldn't see the future, but he realized he could take advantage of the old man's gullibility.

"Of course, kind sir," he said, imitating Micaiah's deferential manner of speaking. "Miss, if you please," he said, motioning the little girl up to the table. "First I'm going to read your palms,"

As Sothe held out his hand the little girl (who was probably about as old as Sothe) nervously placed her right hand atop his left. Although Sothe had no idea what he was doing, he figured people who actually read palms probably didn't know what they were doing either, so he, like them, would just make it up as he went along.

"Ah yes. This line here means you will get married to a very handsome, rich man with a lot of money. This curved one shows you will have many children who will support you and your husband in your old age. This intersection of the Simian and Jupiter lines indicates that someday you will leave Daein on a long journey to far away lands,"

_Keep it vague and optimistic_, Sothe thought to himself. As he looked over her hands it became clear to him that she had never put in an honest day's work in her life. She was probably out shopping with her rich parents, the brat. His disgust for her gullibility, coupled with his resentment for her privileged lifestyle, made him decide to rob the two blind, because Ashera knows they deserve it. What made her better than him, or Micaiah, or anyone else who lived on the streets? He'd grown up never knowing if he'd be alive the next day, she had probably never even needed to think, let alone act, in order to survive. How was that fair? What did he do to deserve anything less than she did? He'd be righting the scales a little bit, that was all. The very fact he was making these arguments disturbed him however. Never before had he ever hesitated or held back to tell himself that what he was doing was right, he'd always just done it. His need to live was the only justification he ever required to steal from others.

"I must be going soft," Sothe muttered to himself as he stood up. "Okay Miss, come over here behind the stall. I'm going to ask you to throw these die and think of the thing you want most in this world,"

As she came around Sothe quickly scanned her person for anything valuable. On her wrist was a silver bracelet and in one of her pockets she appeared to have a pouch of what he hoped was gold coins.

_Excellent_, he thought to himself. When he handed her the die he skillfully relieved her of the bracelet, and as she turned to throw the die on the table he nabbed the pouch, disguising the sound the coins made with a cough. Not even bothering to look at the die he told her the numbers showed that whatever she had wished for would one day come true.

"Thank you so much, master seer!" the girl said, eyes shining happily as she ran back to her grandfather.

"The pleasure is truly all mine,"

"Here, take these," the older man said as he gave Sothe a couple of coins. "Come along, dear, your mother will be worried about you," he told the young girl as they headed back into the crowded plaza.

"Fools," Sothe said as he inspected the pouch. There was easily four or five times as many coins in there as the man had given Sothe.

Shortly thereafter Micaiah returned to the stall and was very surprised when Sothe handed her a large pile of coins.

"Where did these come from?" she asked suspiciously.

"A little girl asked me to read her fortune while you were gone, so I made up some happy stuff to tell her,"

"Well that was nice, thank you. But she shouldn't have paid you this much," Micaiah said, instantly seeing that there was more to the story. "And what's this?!" she exclaimed when she saw the silver bracelet, "no Sothe, please tell me you didn't take this!"

Sothe was a little surprised by Micaiah's outburst, he knew she didn't like it when he stole stuff, but she usually just let it go.

"I'm… Sorry?"

"Sothe you can't keep doing this! It's one thing to steal food to survive; no one can blame you for that. But taking this much money from a child? You should know better than that. We make enough money so that we don't have to steal from others anymore, you need to control yourself better,"

"But she didn't need it either! And we can sell it so we can buy more food, better food! Wouldn't be nice to eat something besides day-old leftovers? Don't we deserve more than that? I'll bet she never has to eat moldy bread! Why is she any better than me or you?!" Sothe responded, standing up, fists shaking with anger.

"That has nothing do with this. Yes, she may have more money than we do, yes, she may have fresh food every day. But why in the world does that give you the right to take her stuff? There is always someone poorer out there, and by stealing beyond what you need to live no better than the very people you hate. Please, try to understand; what you did was very, very wrong, Sothe. You're going to have to learn not to steal from people just because you can,"

Sothe stood there for a couple of moments, shaking and staring down at the ground.

"Sothe?" Micaiah said hesitantly.

Suddenly he turned and ran down a nearby alley, not saying a word.

"Sothe!" Micaiah called after him. "Darn it," she said to herself as she pocketed the stolen gold and the bracelet before following him down the alley.

Sothe was practically blinded by tears as he ran, although whether they were tears of anger or guilt he wasn't sure, maybe both. All he knew was he never wanted to see that look of disappointment on Micaiah's face ever again. At first he wasn't sure where his feet were taking him, but eventually he saw that he was approaching his current sleeping quarters. Climbing up the side of a nondescript building, he found his familiar bag/tent a welcome sight, and he sheltered under it, waiting for the tears to stop.

After a couple of minutes they stopped falling, but before he could decide what to do next he heard someone clambering up the side of the building. He knew it must be Micaiah, but he didn't want to see yet so he kept his back turned to her.

"Oh my…" Micaiah said as she took in what constituted as Sothe's home.

"Go away," he told her, still refusing to look at her.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I apologize for over reacting. I forgot that you grew up having to steal everyday just to survive, and you didn't have the luxury choosing how much or what to take. I just… I want you to understand why I said what I did,"

"I refuse to apologize for wanting to have more than just dirt and rags," Sothe said, obstinate as ever, but finally turning to look her in the face.

There are ways to accomplish that other than stealing, Sothe. I-, oh come here," she said, stopping her rebuke to bend down and wipe his face clean. Sothe, grudgingly at first, allowed her to dry him. After she finished he unexpectedly leaned in and hugged her. It was the first time they'd hugged, and Micaiah returned it after her initial surprise, protectively wrapping her arms around him.

"Please, don't hate me," Sothe whispered.

"Sothe!" Micaiah exclaimed, "of course I don't hate you, I could never hate you. I may not always agree with what you do, but never mistake that for me hating you. No matter what, I will always love you," she said earnestly, pulling him in even tighter.

"Thank you," he said quietly. The two stayed there on that rooftop all night. It was the first time Micaiah slept in the same place with Sothe, and it was the last time Sothe slept under his old torn up bag.

* * *

After the incident with the little girl Micaiah and Sothe began spending all their time together. Micaiah invited Sothe to stay with her in the apartment she rented, which he gladly accepted. Things were looking up for the pair and Sothe was, for perhaps the first time, content with his life. Fate, however, is ever the enemy of complacency, and the time was fast approaching that would force Micaiah and Sothe out from Nevassa. It came in the form of an old widow, who'd lost her husband, a Daein soldier, a few years prior.

The widow had not gotten over the loss very easily, and continued to think about it almost every day. As she searched the market for some meat with which to make her children dinner tonight, she happened upon Micaiah's stall. Hailing from Begnion, she did not believe anyone but the Apostle could see the future and so did not give Micaiah a second glance. Her gaze stuck on Sothe though, for he seemed very familiar to her. She struggled to place him at first, probably because his demeanor was so different now. Ultimately she was not to be denied however. The boy still reeked of the street upon which he'd been born. His clothes also betrayed him, as although they had become noticeably shabbier, they were undeniably the same.

She promptly went over to the guards and explained the situation. Within minutes she had returned with three guards to punish the boy for his crimes.

"Miss, please step away from the boy," one of the soldiers said as he approached Micaiah's stall.

"What? What's going on?" Micaiah asked, confused.

"He is responsible for the death of a soldier of Daein. The punishment for which is, sadly, death," the soldier responded, looking down at Sothe distastefully.

"Please, he is only a child," Micaiah pleased. "Ma'am, I am very sorry for your loss but please, show him mercy, he did not know what he was doing!"

"Kill him! Kill him quickly before he escapes again!" the widow yelled hysterically.

One of the soldiers moved forward, brandishing his sword. With his back to the wall the animal within Sothe reared its ugly head, and he jumped forward, stabbing the soldier in the hip, crippling him. At this the other two jumped forward before he could turn to meet them. One of them grabbed him around the collar and the other ran him through with his lance, all but killing him.

"Goddess, please forgive me," Micaiah said quietly as she raised her hands and said something in a language Sothe had never heard before. Before the soldiers could react two rays of golden light materialized above Micaiah's head and struck them, dropping them to the ground. Whether they were unconscious or dead Sothe did not know.

Sothe fell to the ground as the soldier holding him was hit by Micaiah's attack, but before he reached it something caught him.

"Micaiah, I… I'm… sorry," Sothe said, unable to make his mouth work properly.

"Hold on Sothe, just hold on," Micaiah said as she opened his cloak to examine the wound. The lance had left a gaping hole where Sothe's stomach should be. He wouldn't last much longer. Glancing up, she noticed the widow had run off.

"Don't worry, you'll be better soon," she reassured Sothe as she took off her gloves. Placing her hands over the wound Micaiah frowned in concentration as energy flowed through her body and into his. The last thing Sothe saw before he fainted was his flesh and skin re-forming beneath her hands.

* * *

When he awoke he was laying in Micaiah's bed in their apartment. As soon as he was fully conscious he jumped out of the bed, yelling out Micaiah's name, wanting to make sure she was all right.

"Sothe, not so loudly, I'm right here," came a tired voice from behind him. Whirling around he saw he sitting in a chair by the window, and from the looks of it he'd just woken her up.

"Micaiah, are you all right? I don't. How? What did you do?" He asked, trying to order his thoughts and speak at the same time.

"Well, I don't know how, exactly, but ever since I can remember I've been able to heal people without a staff. As you can see it is very useful, but it comes at a price, unfortunately. Because I'm not using a staff the energy to mend the wound comes from my own body. So healing even the smallest of wounds can tire me out, and healing one as large as yours, well it takes a lot out of me,"

I'm so sorry, Micaiah. But, I just wanted to say, thank you. You saved my life, and someday, someday I'll be strong enough to protect you, I promise,"

"I pray that day will never come. But if it does, then there's no one I'd want at my side more than you, Sothe. And there's no need to apologize. You're not the same person you used to be, I think you can forgive yourself for that soldier's death,"

"But. But I am, Micaiah. That part of me still exists. If you hadn't been there, I'm not sure I wouldn't have killed all of them if I'd been able to, even the widow," he said, shivering slightly.

"Sothe, listen to me very closely. Who you are, what strengths and weaknesses you are born with does not matter. It is the choices you make, and the life you choose to live, that determines who you are as a person. I could not be more proud of you right now, Sothe,"

"Thank you, Micaiah. I'll do my best,"

After a moment's pause, "So what will we do now? They'll be looking for us all over Nevassa soon," Sothe asked.

"I've stayed here for long enough as it is. Tomorrow I think I will depart for Begnion, and nothing would make me happier than you joining me," she told Sothe, getting off the chair and bending down so that they were almost at eye level.

"Like your shadow,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Two Sides to Every Coin**

After Sothe and Micaiah left Nevassa they travelled south, across the border, and entered Begnion. They took up a temporary residence on a small town near the border and, because Begnion dogma held that only the Apostle could see the future, tried to find new jobs. Eventually they were hired to clean the local church, which was advantageous in that the position came with free housing and meals in addition to their pay. The only downside was that Micaiah and Sothe had to attend the mandatory morning and evening prayer sessions. Unfortunately these sessions usually included lectures given by the priests, and sometimes the bishop, about how to live a pious life under the guidance of Ashera. These lectures tended to be, among other things, very anti-laguz and usually commanded absolute obedience to the church, and its teachings. Neither of these lessons sat well with Micaiah and she did her best to make sure Sothe didn't listen to a word of them, but she was not entirely successful.

"The Goddess loves everyone equally, Sothe. Whether you're a man or woman, laguz or beorc, it doesn't matter," Micaiah told him one evening after their chores were done.

"But the bishop told us there are differences between men and women and sub-humans and beorc. He said the Goddess only speaks to women because they are more pure than men, and that's why men are supposed to fight in wars and work on farms while women pray and listen to the Goddess. Then he said half-humans are uneducated beasts that only like to kill beorc like us," Sothe said, confused.

"I told you to say "laguz" Sothe, not "sub-human"," Micaiah gently admonished him.

"Sorry,"

"And about the things the bishop said. What you have to understand is that the Goddess didn't tell us any of these things. After she created us she left without leaving us any writings or anything. Humans, bishops and past Apostles mostly, wrote the holy books and prayers we read today over the course of hundreds of years. Although they are treated as the Goddess' words by the church, they are really the work of humans, and even the wisest of humans are flawed. Their teachings are not always correct, and these particular ones aren't, all right?"

"But the priests and bishops spend their whole lives studying the holy books, wouldn't they know more about them than you?"

"You would think so, wouldn't you? Yes they do understand those lessons far more than I ever will it is true. But it is that very dedication that blinds them. They fail to understand that the teachings are man-made and therefore not absolute or perfect,"

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just don't understand why we have to spend hours learning about Ashera each day only for you to tell me they're wrong. It's such a waste of time,"

"It's either this or we sit on the street and beg for food and shelter, which would you prefer?" Micaiah asked, smiling.

"Why couldn't we stay in Daein? There are other places to live besides Nevassa, and then you could make money by being a fortune teller again,"

"I think it's important for you to see different countries and peoples. There's so many different nations in Tellius, it seems like a crime to only ever see one of them,"

"Well I don't really want to learn that much about one that thinks you deserve to be burned for being able to see the future," Sothe said loyally.

"There's good and bad in every society, just as there is light and darkness in each of us," was Micaiah's response.

"You'd expect there to be a little more light in a country that worships the Goddess of light, wouldn't you?"

Micaiah had to laugh at this, "That you would Sothe, that you would,"

* * *

Besides Micaiah and Sothe there was a surprising number of children running around the church. Micaiah thought it would be a good experience for Sothe to play with others his own age, but he hated their pointless, stupid little games. He much preferred to spend his time with Micaiah, even if all they did was sit in their cramped quarters and talk. One day while Sothe was cleaning one of the many statues of Ashera, he questioned for the first time the nearly universal belief in her. Regardless of what country you lived in, it seemed everyone, at least all the beorc, prayed to Ashera. But at the end of the day why was her existence so accepted? Why did everyone believe in her? After he finished cleaning the statue he went to ask the bishop about it, figuring if anyone would know, it would be the head of the church.

After ten minutes Sothe left, or rather was thrown out of, the bishop's office. It seemed that he in fact did not know, but he did know how to accuse someone of being a heretic and suggesting they burn him for not believing in the Goddess. So Sothe did what he always did when he couldn't figure something out on his own, he asked Micaiah.

"Hey Micaiah? I was wondering, if no one has ever seen the Goddess before, how do we know she exists?" he asked when he returned to their shared room.

"The short answer is, we don't," Micaiah said.

"Then why does everybody believe in her?"

"Perhaps it is because almost everyone fears that which they do not understand. We seek meaning in what is perhaps unknowable. To explain things like the creation of our world, and magic, we use the Goddess. The church also provides people with order and rules in a world that is otherwise completely chaotic. People feel more comfortable knowing there is an all-powerful being out there who is watching over them,"

"So, everyone just lies to everyone else?" Sothe asked, very confused. "How can they do that? How can they think it's okay to lie like that, especially to their children?"

"Let me answer that with another question. Does it matter? So what if there is no Goddess, so what if no one is watching over us. Does it really matter whether or not she exists if she gives people the strength to survive?"

"Well… I guess not. But I'm not going to lie to myself. Until I see her with my own eyes I'm not going to assume there's a Goddess up there just to make me feel better,"

"And no one is going to make you do that. Or at least, no one should. I wouldn't go around shouting that you don't believe in Ashera, especially not in Begnion. But just as everyone has the right to believe in the Goddess if they want to, you have the right to not believe in her,"

"Thanks Micaiah," Sothe said, just then the bell for the evening prayer was rung and Sothe left the room.

"So strong for such a small little boy," Micaiah said to herself, grinning as she followed him out.

* * *

Sothe and Micaiah's arrangement with the church, while advantageous, was not to last. Sothe's impertinent questions and Micaiah's evident disagreement with the church's teachings resulted in the two being fired only a month after they started working there. Forced out of the church, Micaiah decided it was probably best to try and find work in a larger city before the winter set in. Before they left however she decided to use the last of their money to buy some supplies before setting out. While wondering the market they came upon a stall that was selling boots and other footwear. When Micaiah pointed it out to him, Sothe thought there appeared to be something off about it. He wasn't sure exactly what, but every fiber of his being screamed at him to stay away from it. He was unable however to find a solid reason not to go to it, and Micaiah pointed out that both of their boots were so worn out they were probably closer to sandals than actual boots.

"Excuse me, sir, do you have any boots that might fit me and my companion here?" Micaiah asked one of the men as they approached the stall.

"What kind are you looking for, missy?" the man asked in a gruff, although not unfriendly, voice.

"We do a lot of travelling, so they'll need to be quite sturdy,"

"Absolutely, we'll just need the boots you have on right now so we can get the right sizes,"

"Of course…" Micaiah said and motioned Sothe to take off his boots.

As they did so the man motioned one of the others forward and whispered in his ear. The other man smiled and nodded and in turn motioned the other two men forward as they went around the stall to where Micaiah and Sothe were bent over getting their boots off.

"Stand up nice and slowly, you two," one of the men said, "no sudden moves,"

The two men had knives pressed into Sothe and Micaiah's backs as they pushed the two into a nearby alley.

"Now then, empty your pockets, both of you," the third man said as he followed them into the dark alleyway. Without anyone noticing Sothe caught Micaiah's eye, silently asking that they turn the tables on their would-be robbers.

"Come on then, do it! Unless you want the last thing you'll ever feel in this world to be the sting as my axe separates your head from your body," the man threatened them.

Micaiah knew that without their money they were as good as dead anyways. She hesitated only a second before nodding to Sothe, silently cursing herself for having gotten them into this mess.

Drawing both a dagger and a knife from his belt, Sothe turned to attack. Flinging the knife he struck the man holding Micaiah in the neck, a killing blow. The man behind him had a split second more time to prepare before Sothe attacked him. Stepping back he raised a huge axe from the shadows behind him and swung it at Sothe in a blow that would have disemboweled an ox. Sothe rolled to avoid it, missing the axe by inches. The man's forward momentum forced him off balance and Sothe would have capitalized on his vulnerability if a hand axe hadn't flown by and almost knocked his head off first. The thrower was knocked out of commission a few seconds later by one of Micaiah's light spells though. This bought Sothe enough time to take down his opponent. The man's axe was stuck in the ground so he tried to draw his knife, but before he could Sothe slipped under his guard and killed him with a vicious upwards slash.

By this point Micaiah had severely weakened the last bandit and Sothe finished him off, stabbing the man through the heart with his now bloody dagger. Sothe stepped back for a minute to catch his breadth and then proceeded to check the bodies. Once he was sure all four were dead he turned to see Micaiah staring over the carnage with revolt etched across her face.

"Micaiah, I… I'm sorry," Sothe said, unsure what to do with this unexpected turn of events. To be sure he didn't enjoy killing, but when it was either kill or be killed, well there was no point in crying over it.

"No Sothe, don't. This isn't your fault, if it's anyone's it's mine. I just… I wish there were a way for us to not have to always be fighting for our lives,"

"That's just how the world works, Micaiah. You have to fight to survive, it's always been that way, and probably always will be,"

"What's natural is not necessarily right, Sothe. But it seems we are cursed to always dance the narrow line between life and death. Regardless, we should get out of here. If someone found us right now, I hate to think what would happen,"

Micaiah and Sothe left to go clean their clothes (after picking up two new pairs of boots, that is) in a nearby stream before setting off once again.

"Sothe, today your instincts told you there was something off with those men and I didn't listen. From now on I'm going to try and do a better job of listening to you, and I'm sorry I didn't before, my mistake almost cost us our lives," Micaiah told him as they washed off.

"That's okay, I didn't really know whether or not they were bad, I just had a feeling. Sort of like how you can sometimes see the future I guess,"

"So long as we are together, I don't think anything can stand in our way. Now let's go, if we hurry we should be able to make it to Sienne, the capital of Begnion, before the snow starts to fall,"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: A Broken Promise**

After the snow thawed Micaiah and Sothe would soon resume their journey, this time they'd be travelling north through Begnion. While in Sienne they would often walk around and admire the beauty that was the capital, or at least, Micaiah admired its beauty. Sothe did not really seem to care where they were so long as they had food and nobody was trying to kill them.

While the two were walking down one of the side streets, Micaiah saw a sign pointing them towards one of the city's baths.

"Look Sothe," Micaiah said, pointing toward the sign, "we'll finally be able to walk around without looking as if we've been sleeping in mud every night,"

"But Micaiah, we have been sleeping in the mud every night. And I'm perfectly happy with a nice layer of dirt on me, it helps keep me cool now that it's warming up," Sothe said.

"It's not healthy to be covered in mud all the time, come on, we haven't been clean in ages," she said, mind set.

As they entered the baths the receptionist told them it'd cost them two coins, each. Handing him the coins, Micaiah motioned Sothe towards the men's changing room while she turned to enter the women's.

"Wait Micaiah, what's going on?" Sothe asked.

"You have to change in there before entering the baths, Sothe," Micaiah explained.

"But, why are you going over there?"

"No kid, men and women bathe separately," the receptionist said.

"It'll be fine Sothe, don't worry, I'll see you in an hour or so, all right?" Micaiah asked.

Puffing up his chest Sothe said, "Of course, I'll fine by myself. See you later," before turning around and marching through the curtain into the changing room. Although his performance couldn't fool Micaiah she smiled as she turned to enter the women's changing room. She was happy to see how much he'd grown. In the back of her mind however, she was sad at the reminder that every day he grew, her own unchanging appearance would become ever more suspicious.

The room was, in Sothe's opinion, too hot. And it wasn't just the room temperature either; the floor and walls seemed to literally radiate heat. The "bath" appeared to be a misnomer as well since there wasn't any water. People were just sitting, and sweating, on benches. Sothe sat down in the last spot available, on the end of a bench already occupied by two men. Unlike everyone else however, they were only stripped from the waste down, and both wore matching white shirts. One was a tall, thin man with long black hair and friendly green eyes. The other was a huge bear of a man with short blue hair who also had green eyes, but his seemed more cold and calculating than friendly like his partner's.

"I do not think he can be trusted," the big man said to his companion, "his drive for power will lead him to cross any who block his path,"

"Ah but you misunderstand me. I asked whether we should help him, although you have given me the answer nonetheless. It is precisely his desire for power that will make this relationship work. His single, ultimate goal is to rule Tellius, this will allow us to easily control him," the thin man replied.

"Making him king was one thing, but it is quite another to lend him my sword. With it, and the Daein army, none could stand in his way,"

"Perhaps he could conquer Crimea, and even Begnion. But the laguz will band together if he attacks one nation, and if three of the laguz kings unite against him, he won't stand a chance, even with you by his side. So, re-join the Daein military then, infiltrate his inner circle, which shouldn't be too hard if you're as strong as you tell me you are, and figure out how he intends to gain control of Tellius. Despite his name, he isn't completely mad; he must have some plan to overcome the laguz nations, particularly the dragons of Goldoa. Against them no one can survive,"

"As you wish, my lord," the big man said, "I will rise through the ranks quickly, I think. I understand that Ashnard accepts anyone with fighting skill into his army, regardless of their person or background,"

"Excellent. Well now, young man, you're clearly not from around here," the black haired man said to Sothe, turning to face him, "otherwise you'd know better than to listen in on the most powerful sage in the world. I'm afraid my big friend here is going to have to take you outside and teach you not to listen in on that which does not concern you,"

Sothe looked at the huge man in fright, casting around for the dagger he always kept at his side before realizing he'd taken it off in the changing room. Then he saw that the bear-man was smiling, laughing to himself, as was his companion.

"You look like you take life a little too seriously, my young friend," the black haired man said, "we're not all out to kill you, you know,"

"You might end up being surprised how many of us actually are though," the blue haired one said.

"Zelgius, please, don't scare the boy. Besides, it looks like he's been through a lot of that already. Tell me, young man, why are you here?"

"I think I'm supposed to be washing myself," Sothe replied.

"Well you could certainly use it, no doubt about that. But no, what I meant to ask was, what are you doing here, in Sienne? After all, it's a long ways off from Nevassa, isn't it?"

"I'm protecting… My sister, Micaiah, and she wanted us to take a bath, so here I am," Sothe said. For some reason he felt like he could trust this man, even though his knowing where Sothe had been living all his life suggested there was more to him than meets the eye.

"Everyone needs a partner. Someone to catch them when they fall. I have mine right here," he said, patting Zelgius on the back, "I'm Sephiran, by the way,"

"I'm Sothe,"

"You seem unsure of yourself, Sothe. Is it that you doubt your own ability to keep this Micaiah safe?" Sephiran asked, gently probing him.

"It's just… Well… I'm so weak, and… We're always getting into trouble and I can never… I… I don't think I'm special or strong enough to protect her is all," Sothe said slowly, surprised at how much he was opening up to this stranger.

At this Zelgius leaned over to talk to Sothe face-to-face, "I wouldn't worry too much about not being special. Far more important than your birth is what you do with your life. If you work hard enough and practice everyday, even the Goddess would hesitate to try and to hurt Micaiah so long as you're by her side," Zelgius said.

"Thanks, I'll do my best," Sothe said, shyly looking down at his feet.

Soon after this Sothe got up and left to go clean himself in the actual bath area.

"Such a nice kid for such a cruel past," Sephiran said to Zelgius.

"I suppose," Zelgius said, indifferently, "I hope it works out for him and his sister,"

"As do I. In the end it won't matter however, and that moment fast approaches," Sephiran said as he sat back, enjoying the steam.

Shortly after their encounter Sothe and Micaiah, and Zelgius, all left Sienne. Whereas the two orphans headed northwest towards the Crimean-Begnion border, Zelgius headed east, and then north towards the Daein border. The three would be reunited many years later, although this time they would be engaged in the largest war in the history of Tellius.

* * *

By the time Sothe and Micaiah had reached Crimea over a year had passed since they'd been in Sienne, and the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn red and yellow, signaling the summer of the year 645 was coming to an end. Micaiah and Sothe had met about five years ago, and while Sothe had clearly grown taller, stronger, and older, Micaiah remained untouched by the passing years. Sothe hadn't noticed yet, perhaps he was too young to understand that over time people changed. They never stayed in the same place long enough for other people to change noticeably, and as far as Micaiah knew, Sothe had never seen a mirror in his life.

As in Daein Micaiah set up a fortune-telling stall in a crowded marketplace, this time in a small village in the far west of Crimea. The village was filled with miners and farmers as well as the occasional sailor from the nearby port city of Toha. Business was good; she made almost as much money as she had in Nevassa where she had been well known and much sought after. Now Sothe worked as well, meaning that the two had more than enough money to rent a room above the local tavern to live in. The green haired thief worked for the local Crimean Anti-Laguz Vigilantes, and although Micaiah hated them, they paid well. The group trained Sothe in the basics of how to be a battlefield thief; he improved his skill with a knife, and worked on sneaking around in between two battling armies. Although he didn't know it yet, these skills would later save his life.

"But they're just trying to protect their families, what's so wrong about that?" Sothe asked Micaiah as they ate their dinner within the tavern.

"The problem is they're trying to protect their families against a threat that does not exist. In doing so they're spreading lies, making people hate the laguz when they haven't done anything to deserve it," Micaiah explained for what seemed like the one-hundredth time.

"How can you say that man-eating tigers and dragons aren't dangerous? If the sub-humans got to you, they could tear you in two in a second, and I can't let that happen," Sothe replied.

"I've told you before to say "laguz", not "sub-human". And just because they can doesn't mean they will. I'd trust a laguz just as much as a I would a beorc," Micaiah said.

Before Sothe could respond the leader of the small town's vigilante group sat down at their table.

"Come on boy, break's over. We've got reports that suggest the sub-humans are on the move and we need you and the other's to do some reconnaissance. You've got the north gate, talk to the guards and see if they've noticed any shady figures coming into town," the man said.

"Yes sir," Sothe said, nodding to both him and Micaiah before leaving the tavern.

"Your brother's got talent, I'll give him that, and he takes orders well. He could go far if he works on sharpening up his knife skills," the man told Micaiah as he lounged back, taking the drink Sothe left. After taking a single gulp he spit it out, all over the table, "what is this, water?" he asked Micaiah angrily.

"Yes it is, my brother never drinks alcohol, he's afraid it'll dull his senses, and he's a bit young anyway" Micaiah answered.

"His loss…" the man said as he got up to go the bar.

What neither of them noticed was the shadow, hidden in the corner of the room, watching Micaiah intently. The eyes never left her as she finished her meal, paid, and went up to her and Sothe's room, figuring she'd wait for him in privacy. After she left a woman stepped out of the shadows and approached the now drunk head of the vigilante group.

"That girl you were talking to, she's part laguz," the woman said.

"Ah, it's you, I should have guessed. So, she's a sub-human, and the boy?" the man said, turning to face her.

"She's a branded, not sub-human," the woman said.

"Makes no difference to me. Either way, she needs to die. And her brother? What about him?" the man slurred.

"He's a human, I think. That'll be one hundred tomorrow morning, no later than sunrise, I intend to get an early start,"

"Of course, of course, you're well worth it. Have a nice night," the man said as he went back to his drink.

The woman turned and left without a backwards glance, the brand over her left eye shining brightly in the pale light.

* * *

Later that night Sothe was returning from questioning the guards, none of whom had seen any suspicious individuals entering the town. One moment the silence seemed absolute, the next, an arrow flew past, missing his face by inches. Then several yells could be heard as men rushed at him from out of the shadows, shattering the silence. Without missing a beat Sothe rolled out of the way, tripping one unlucky individual and stabbing him in the back. Rising to his feat he made out at least five others approaching him, more cautiously now. Sothe decided there were too many to fight, especially with an archer lurking somewhere nearby. Turning on his heel he dashed away, running into the first side alley he came to in an attempt to escape.

They had clearly expected this however as two men appeared at the end of the alley even as the other five entered from behind him. Jumping Sothe began climbing up the side of the nearest building, narrowly escaping the hands of one of the men. Running along the rooftops he began to think he might have successfully escaped, that is until he saw a solitary figure standing on top of the next building. He was holding a bow and Sothe was still several paces away. Ducking low and continuing to run he charged the archer who fired an arrow that Sothe just narrowly dodged. He tackled the man bringing him to the ground and shoving his worn dagger through his chest plate.

A sharp pain in his stomach spoiled his elation at his victory, and, looking down, he saw that the dying archer had stabbed him with a short knife. Even as the archer passed on he said:

"Got you, you bloody animal,"

He died with a smile still etched on his face. Standing up on shaking legs Sothe saw that the man wore the same badge he was currently wearing, showing that the archer belonged to the Crimean Anti-Laguz Vigilantes. Suddenly his final words made sense, the vigilantes must think that he, Sothe, was a half-breed. But why would they think that? He didn't have time to ponder this for too long however, he could hear the guards running towards him and he took off to the tavern as fast as he could, clutching at his gaping wound. More or less falling to ground level on top of a pile of bags outside the place, he hurried inside, leaving behind a trail of blood.

"Micaiah…" Sothe said, banging on their door even as he used it to keep himself on his feet.

"Sothe! By the goddess let's get you inside," Micaiah exclaimed, as she opened the door and Sothe fell inside, a pool of his own blood quickly forming around him. Closing the door, she put her hand over his wound and let the energy run through her into the wound, closing it as if it had never been there.

"Sothe, how did this happen?" Micaiah asked after he woke up a couple of minutes later.

"It was the vigilantes, they ambushed and tried to kill me after I talked to the town guards. They, they thought I was a half-breed or something," Sothe explained.

Micaiah didn't respond for a few moments. From the look on her face it seemed like she was arguing with herself. After a while she said,

"I'm sorry, Sothe, but I think this is my fault,"

"What? How is this your fault?"

Micaiah looked into his eyes, they were so full of love. She knew how people looked at her when they found out about her blood, and she didn't think she could bear to see that love turn to hate and disgust. She couldn't do it; she just couldn't.

"I'll tell you later, I'm sorry, but we need to get out of her, now. This is the first place they'll think to look," Micaiah said.

As they dropped out the window into the dark street below, Sothe saw Micaiah stumble and fall. Quickly bending down, he picked her up and ran with her into the black heart of the town, and away from the vigilantes hunting them.

* * *

Over the next few days Micaiah thought endlessly about what to do. Eventually she'd have to tell Sothe why the Anti-Laguz Vigilantes tried to kill him. She saw no way out of the situation except to do what she'd been doing her whole life; run away. She'd protect Sothe by leaving him; it wasn't her safety she was concerned about, but his. She'd been on Death's front doorstep since she was born, but she wanted more for Sothe, he deserved more. She'd barter passage on a merchant ship for Begnion from the nearby port of Toha.

A few nights later, after Sothe went to sleep, Micaiah wrote him a short note, telling him that she left to protect him, explaining that she was a half-breed and that was the reason the vigilantes had tried to kill him. She ended by saying that she loved him, and didn't want him to try and find her. She left him a bag of coins she'd been saving up, and her scarf. She told herself it was so that he could stay warm during the winter, but in truth, it was because she couldn't bring herself to completely give up the only family she'd ever had.

"Goodbye, Sothe, I will always love you," Micaiah said as she closed the door on Sothe's sleeping form.

"Micaiah…" Sothe muttered in his sleep as the only person he ever loved left him in the middle of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: Training**

He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since she'd left him. She'd found him in the darkness and shown him the light, shown him that a world existed beyond the hellhole he'd grown up in. Then she just ripped it away, proving to him that even your family can't be trusted to not stab you in the back. But that didn't dissuade him from looking for her. It had been several months since she'd disappeared but day and night he tried to sniff her out, to find out where she had gone.

In her note she said she was half-laguz, and that this was the reason she had to leave him, in order to protect him. What confused Sothe was that he had told her, in no uncertain terms, that he would gladly wade through mountains of enemies to protect her. So why did she find it necessary to abandon him for his own safety? **He** was trying to keep **her** safe! As for how he felt about her laguz blood, who cared? She meant the world to him and mistakes her ancestors had made didn't mean anything. Plus, if she could turn into a lion or something that'd be really useful given how many people seemed to want to hurt and/or kill them.

* * *

Finally, finally, he found her trail. One of the guards in Toha remembered that a silver haired girl had entered the city a while back. After searching through Toha, he decided that she must have caught a ship and left Crimea. Shortly before she went away (although they didn't know it at the time) Daein had invaded Crimea, which meant that no ships would sail to Daein. The ships here would also never dare to sail to laguz territory. If he was correct she must have left on a ship back to Begnion. He clung to this last shred of hope as if it were his salvation. Jumping at the opportunity he sought out a ship that would sail to Begnion, and here he ran into a problem. The Daein invasion had progressed at an incredible speed, almost no ships were willing to set sail, especially since raven and hawk laguz pirates attacked almost anyone heading to Begnion. Sailing to the Empire was neither safe nor particularly profitable given its wealth of resources against which Crimean merchants couldn't compete.

One captain, Nasir, was planning to sail to Begnion. The problem? He refused to let Sothe come along because, he said, his services had already been bought. Sothe considered telling Nasir about his search for Micaiah, but that would be a last resort only. His fear was vague at best, but the fewer people who knew what he was doing the better. Thus, left with only one option, he would stow away aboard Nasir's ship and follow Micaiah to Begnion, and then Daein.

A Crimean soldiers-for-hire group, the Greil Mercenaries, was using Nasir's ship to travel to Begnion. For about half the trip Sothe remained impressively unnoticed by anyone. It was not to last, however. While eating some freshly stolen salted meat, he was caught by none other than Nasir. The man looked furious, enough to it seemed to Sothe, to throw him off the ship, or worse. Running, he was afraid his short life would end here as there was no longer anyplace to hide, and he didn't know how to swim much less in which direction land lay. That was when he stumbled into the back of a tall, blue haired man. Although young, the blue haired man was clearly a powerful warrior, one who could probably kill Sothe as easily as if he were a stray fly.

Initially Sothe felt like attacking the man before the warrior de-capacitated him, but then he remembered what Micaiah had said in the tavern: just because the laguz can kill you, doesn't mean they will. With that in mind he stepped back from the hulking warrior without saying a word.

The man told Sothe to start explaining himself, but he was terrified and at first he couldn't think what to say. Before long the man, whom Nasir had called Ike, roughly grabbed Sothe, impatiently asking him once again to talk. Removing his arm from Sothe's neck he finally managed to say that yes, he would comply.

After he was released he ruefully rubbed his neck and face and went to stand closer to Nasir while Ike glared at him. Sothe then explained, in the vaguest terms he could think of, that he was searching for someone who was like family to him and was not on board the ship to steal. Ike paused for a moment, then he unexpectedly allowed Sothe to join the Greil Mercenaries. Sothe was more than happy to accept an invitation for free food. He also knew that the Greil Mercenaries' final destination would be Daein, which was where Micaiah was most likely headed.

After Ike introduced Sothe to the group at dinner, he told him that he would begin training tomorrow with the only other thief currently employed by the Greil Mercenaries. The thief's name was Volke, and very little was known about him besides the fact that he was deadly on the battlefield. He was to sleep in a "room" that was nothing more than a hammock strung up in the corner of what appeared to be a prison that had long since fallen into disrepair from lack of use. This was to be expected though as this was where he'd put his few belongings when he first boarded the ship.

* * *

The next morning Sothe entered Volke's private room (no one wanted to sleep in the same room as a thief it seemed) for training several hours before the crack of dawn.

"Good, you can follow orders, that'll serve you well in the army," Volke said when Sothe entered.

"Thank you, sir," Sothe said.

"Ike tells me they found you stowed away on deck and as recompense you've been enlisted. Is that about right?" Volke asked.

Sothe nodded.

"First lesson, never do anything for free. Second lesson, never get caught doing what you're not doing for free. Ike could have killed you without blinking an eye, the only reason you're still alive is that he thinks you could be useful to us. As such he's made it my duty to turn you into a passable thief, understand?" Volke asked.

"Yes sir," Sothe said.

"Good, never say more than you need to, it'll only turn out badly. Now then, take this," Volke said passing Sothe a wooden dagger, "and show me what you can do,"

The two sparred for several minutes. Volke mostly staying on the defensive, only occasionally going on the offensive before letting Sothe return to attacking him. Sothe never landed a hit, and he almost tripped over himself or Volke several times. Shaking his head slightly Volke stepped back and asked,

"Kid who taught you how to fight? I don't know what you're trying to do but you're never going to hit me like that,"

"My instructor was a swordsman in Crimea," Sothe said.

"I should have guessed. A myrmidon, right? If you want to fight with swords go talk to Zihark or someone. But with daggers all that slashing isn't going to work, they're too short. On the battlefield what you're going to want to do is run up close to whoever you're fighting, slip under their guard and stab them. The only time your dagger should make contact with the enemy's weapon is to push it out of the way when you're approaching them. That technique won't work if your opponent is cavalry, another thief, or a laguz though. For mounted enemies you're either going to have to kill the beast first, or jump behind them so you can kill the rider. For the laguz we'll have to practice sneak attacks and dodging. And these sparring sessions are what'll prepare you to take down other thieves," Volke explained.

"Yes sir," Sothe said.

"Another thing we'll have to change is your fighting technique. Like cavalry we should always be moving from one target to the next, never standing still like in a shield wall. Quickly engage and kill your opponent then move on, if the fight takes more than a couple seconds you need to get out of there, that little dagger won't help you when you're surrounded by enemies," Volke said.

For the rest of the morning Volke had Sothe continue to practice his dagger skills, which had improved slightly by the time they stopped so Sothe could eat lunch.

"Are you coming up to eat, sir?" Sothe asked his instructor as he left Volke's room considerably more beaten up than when he'd entered it.

"I don't. And be back here in two hours," Volke replied cryptically before shutting the door in Sothe's face.

* * *

Over the next few weeks Sothe was exposed to many different training methods. After his morning spar with Volke, Sothe would head up to the deck to practice fighting those who used swords, axes, lances, bows, and magic. He soon learned how to dodge their attacks and slip under their guards, thereby quickly ending the fight. Archers and mages were more difficult for him however, as he found dodging their ranged attacks hard. If they only had time to fire or cast one arrow or spell he could usually handle it. It was dodging multiple attacks as he sprinted towards them that tended to trip him up.

To remedy this Volke set out to make Sothe more agile, a valuable skill for any soldier. His technique, which didn't seem to vary much from lesson to lesson, involved him throwing objects at Sothe while he ran around obstacle courses Volke put together.

Volke also looked to perfect Sothe's "utility" skills. Even though he was able to pickpocket people in crowded marketplaces, the battlefield was a very different environment.

"If possible, just kill your opponent before you go rummaging through their pockets," Volke told Sothe. "But there are times when you'll have to get something before you kill him or her, usually because they're either too powerful or you need the item in question quickly. In that scenario you'll have to do it without them noticing, which can be difficult when they're trying to cut your head off,"

"And what about locks, sir?" Sothe asked.

"Don't rush me, boy. For the locks you'll have to open a simple picklock should suffice, you can practice picking locks every night after agility training. You'll have to learn to do it quickly and discreetly. Take too long or do it too loudly, and you'll be surrounded by guards before you know it," Volke said.

This system continued for the duration of the ship's slow journey. Sothe would arrive at Volke's door long before anyone else was awake, and train with Volke throughout the day. Although the schedule Volke had set was harsh, and his teaching methods even harsher, the results were undeniable. Sothe was a slow, yet eager leaner who, by the time the ship made port, was ready to fight on the frontlines in both Volke's and Ike's opinions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: A New Friend**

The Imperial Holy Guard immediately upon landing brought the Crimean Mercenaries to the capital of Begnion. Sothe had already seen the Empress on board their ship after one of the sea battles, and she appeared to be only a little bit older than him. The group stayed in Sienne for about a week, during which time Sothe took to wandering the city at night, resuming his search for Micaiah even though he knew she wouldn't have stayed there.

Then the Apostle gave the Greil Mercenaries their first assignment; ambush a group of merchants. Ike once again however told Sothe to sit this one out, just as he had for the last two skirmishes the group had engaged in. Almost everyone else, including his instructor, Volke, left the city, leaving Sothe alone for a couple of days.

* * *

Almost immediately after the Greil mercenaries returned from their latest mission the Apostle assigned them a new one, and this time Sothe would be coming with. They were sent into the impassable Grann Desert in western Begnion to take care of some bandits there. What they did not know however was that said bandits were laguz.

The sand would normally have slowed him down considerably, but Volke's agility training paid off and Sothe found he was able to move almost completely unimpeded. He followed his orders and stayed mostly behind everyone else, picking up objects he occasionally found buried in the sand. The laguz warriors were both tenacious and powerful, more so than any beorc soldier Sothe had every faced. He was thus often called upon to finish off laguz the others had already weakened.

Sothe was no stranger to bloodshed, but this much in so short a period of time; it was sickening. He'd never completely understood Micaiah's aversion to violence, but now he started to see why she hated it so much. The cries as their bodies fell, blood spurting everywhere, and the sight of the life slowly draining from their eyes, the constant fear of death, he didn't think he could take much more of it.

The group slowly made their way to the ruins that housed the local brigands the Greil Mercenaries had been tasked with eradicating. While everyone else was off to the sides finishing off the last of the bandits a path opened that led him straight to the man in front of the door. Looking down at Sothe the leader told him to stay away, to stop fighting. Sothe didn't listen however; he wouldn't let Micaiah, Volke, Ike, and everyone else down on his first mission. The man seemed kind enough, surprisingly so, but he stood between him and Micaiah. Therefore, he would have to die.

As Sothe steadily continued to approach the man he growled and bent down, transforming into a powerful tiger. Sothe had seen Lethe and Mordecai transform, had even practiced sparring with them, and was prepared for what he now had to do. Running forward he jumped just as the tiger leapt at him, claws outstretched. Sailing over the beast, he stabbed down with his dagger, badly injuring him.

When he turned around though the tiger had already shaken it off and was once again charging at him. This time Sothe faked a jump but instead ducked and rolled around the charging beast, slashing upwards with his knife. The tiger was ready for it this time however and used one of his hind legs to claw Sothe's arm before the dagger reached his body. The numb arm dropped the knife, as Sothe got to his feat, his face pale.

The two started to circle each other, each bleeding copious amounts of blood into the dry sand. Out of the corner of his eye Sothe saw the other Greil Mercenaries running forward to assist him. Just then the tiger locked eyes with him and charged forward. Sothe ran to meet him but tripped on something brown that was sticking out of the ground. Yelling in fear as he fell he saw the tiger take a great leap towards him. As the laguz warrior was about to land Sothe used his uninjured left hand to hurl one of his daggers into the tiger's chest.

The beast fell on top of Sothe, practically crushing the small boy. With his dominant arm hanging limply by his side Sothe was unable to shift the beast of him. Thinking he was about to suffocate and die Sothe could have cried for the cruelty of it all. He hadn't found Micaiah, and now he would die here, alone, in the middle of the desert, a failure.

Suddenly the tiger's body was pushed off him by none other than his master, Volke. Oxygen filled his lungs and Sothe began to cry in earnest as his first of many battles came to a close. Then Volke did something Sothe would never have expected him capable of in a million years. Taking his young student protectively in his arms, Volke, just for a moment, shielded Sothe from the rest of the world. He told him it was okay, that everything would be all right.

* * *

After the battle it was revealed that the "bandits" were in fact a laguz emancipation army that was freeing laguz Begnion senators were enslaving illegally. Although the Greil Mercenaries had killed some of the freedom fighters many had survived. The tiger Sothe had fought, Muarim, was the second in command of the army and had thankfully lived through the battle with Sothe. The leader was a young mage, about Sothe's age and height, named Tormod. After they told Ike the truth about the slavery in Begnion he resolved to make the senators answer for their crimes, and the group headed back to Sienne to confront the Apostle.

Sothe had not slept well after the battle; gruesome memories kept flitting through his dreams, making it difficult to relax and drift off to sleep. Otherwise however he'd never been better since leaving Crimea. After proving himself on the battlefield his comrades became much more inclusive and open to him, and Volke had even said Sothe could take a break from training until they returned to Sienne. Plus, the object Sothe had tripped over in his fight with Muarim turned out to be a pair of boots that made moving around on the battlefield much easier.

While they were walking back to the capital the young emancipation army leader, Tormod, approached Sothe to introduce himself.

"Hey you! I saw you back there, shanking enemy soldiers with that tiny little blade of yours. You were amazing! By the way, did you know we're almost the same age? Oh, sorry… I'm Tormod. I may not look it, but I'm pretty much the most dangerous mage around," Tormod said.

To try and end the conversation as quickly as possible Sothe said, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"No, I remember you! Anyway, what's your name?" Tormod said, quickly changing the topic.

"Sothe," Sothe said.

"It's nice to meet you, Sothe! So tell me, why are you working as a mercenary?" Tormod asked.

"You don't need to know that," Sothe replied.

"Hey! You don't have to be rude. But I was thinking, since we're both lethal mercenaries, and we're both about the same age, we should be friends!" Tormod said, his enthusiasm unshakable.

"I don't think so," Sothe said.

"No? Well, you can say that, but I'm still going to be your friend. You'll see!" Tormod said as he ran back to Muarim.

"You're insane," Sothe said obstinately to Tormod's retreating back.

* * *

He knew what Micaiah would say. She'd tell him to give Tormod a chance. She was always disappointed by Sothe's lack of friends. But Sothe hadn't needed friends when he was travelling with Micaiah, he'd been more than happy to spend all his time with her. Now, with her having been gone for months, he might be feeling just a tiny bit lonely. If he was being completely honest with himself, not having anyone else to talk to was a little hard. All he had now was Volke, and he didn't usually speak much more than Sothe did unless he was instructing Sothe on the finer points of "shanking" enemies.

Tormod's offer was kind of attractive. The only problem was he'd pushed it so hard, and it was so unexpected, that Sothe was a little scared. He wasn't sure how to be friends with someone his own age and besides, Volke didn't have any friends! Nor did he feel the need to seek any. It was probably an unspoken rule for thieves to not get too close to anyone, except Micaiah of course. So really Sothe didn't have any choice in the matter, it would be unprofessional to become friends with Tormod. He'd just wait until the whole thing blew over. There were plenty of other people for Tormod to be friends with, like Rolfe, Rolfe seemed friendly. Tormod would forget all about Sothe soon enough, he was sure of it.

* * *

When the Greil Mercenaries returned to Sienne the Apostle informed them that she was well aware of the slavery problem. She asked them to investigate one of the senators, Duke Oliver of Tanas, whose suspicious activities suggested that he might have laguz slaves. Ike agreed and, upon discovering a heron laguz imprisoned in Duke Tanas' manor, got into a small battle with his personal guard. Sothe and Volke were at their best in the manor, as the many rooms and chests gave them ample opportunity to lighten Duke Oliver's purse.

"Titania, Boyd, and Oscar forward! Ike! You and Zihark go left down that hallway. Mist, follow them and keep them healed," Soren, the Greil Mercenaries' tactician and Ike's right hand man shouted.

"Boy, go with Ike and see if there isn't anything worth nabbing," Volke said quietly to Sothe.

"Yes sir," Sothe replied, running down the hallway after Ike and followed, although he didn't know it, by Tormod.

Sothe did find a room down that hallway and pilfered two items from the chests within it before exiting to rejoin the fight. He saw Ike and Zihark each taking on two enemy soldiers and, to his surprise, Tormod, talking to one of the enemy halberdiers. The halberdier in question, after speaking with Tormod, went to join Ike and Zihark in attacking Duke Oliver's men. Sothe was about to follow him when an enemy thief snuck up behind Tormod and stabbed him in the back, almost killing him.

Tormod cried out and tried to blast the thief with his Fire Tome, but the thief jumped out of the way and tried to slash him again. Tormod was now pressed up against the wall and the others were too distracted to notice. Sothe, dodging around the enemy combatants, didn't have time to draw his dagger so he just tackled the enemy thief instead, bringing them both to the ground. Scrambling up, he kicked the thief in the chest, and used his arm to knock away the thief's dagger. Drawing his own he ducked and lunged into the thief, stabbing him in a killing stroke as they both once again fell to the ground.

Looking back he saw Mist healing Tormod, so he bent down and retrieved a tome and some sort of healing staff from the thief's bag, adding the tome to his bag and giving Mist the staff. Ike, Zihark, and Devdan had finished off their opponents and were now proceeding into the main room to kill the rest of the guards and, hopefully, find the Duke.

Sothe instead decided to go left down another hallway to make sure there were no enemy soldiers left. As it turned out it was a good thing he had checked down there, two enemy soldiers and an archer were coming up the hallway. It was too late to turn around and call everyone else, so Sothe would have to try and deal with them himself. He ducked around the corner to surprise them, and managed to kill the archer as he came into the main hallway.

The two soldiers, upon seeing Sothe, lowered their lances and charged, shields raised. Dodging one he tried to stab him in the back but was almost impaled by the other, so he retreated as the two advanced upon him. Kicking one's lance aside he managed to stab the soldier with his dagger, killing him. The other one was able to connect with Sothe this time, bringing him to the ground. The soldier pulled back to finish him off, but suddenly he was hit by a huge fireball. The man literally exploded in flame and, looking over his shoulder, Sothe saw Tormod standing there holding a powerful Elfire tome with Muarim by his side.

"Just returning the favor, friend," Tormod said.

"Easy there, little Sothe," Muarim said as he came over and picked Sothe up, carrying him over to Mist for healing.

* * *

Duke Tanas had escaped the Greil Mercenaries who now returned to Sienne empty handed. Ike said he intended to try and get the Apostle's permission to enter Serenes forest and see if they couldn't rescue the Heron laguz (who had escaped both Ike and Oliver) before Duke Tanas' men got to him. During the short walk back to the capital Tormod once again approached Sothe, but this time, Sothe was much more open to his fumbled attempts at friendship, even if he didn't overtly show his new feelings.

"Hello, friend!" Tormod said to Sothe.

"Give it up, we're not friends," Sothe replied.

"You're going to be my friend whether you like it or not," Tormod persisted.

"Why are you so determined?" Sothe asked.

"It's Muarim. You see… He thinks it's his fault that I don't have any beorc friends. That's why I wanted you to be my friend, to make him feel better," Tormod explained.

"You should have said as much. Then I wouldn't have thought you were crazy," Sothe said.

"That changes things? But why?" Tormod asked.

"He's like a father to you. I understand why you don't want to cause him grief. I also have… someone… who is like a parent to me," Sothe elaborated slowly.

"Oh I get it!" Tormod said, visibly excited. "Hey! You grew up a lot like me then! We're going to be best friends forever!"

"Er… Well… We'll talk. Sometimes. But don't get the idea that we're best friends!" Sothe said, and, at the sight of Tormod's hurt face quickly continued, "Thieves are loners. I can't have you tagging along, snapping twigs and making lots of noise!"

Oh don't worry about that! I'm great at moving silently! I'm like a squirrel, watch!" Tormod said.

At that Tormod began to walk ahead of Sothe as quietly as he possibly could. Perhaps he thought he was being silent, but to Sothe all he was doing was walking exaggeratedly slowly while lifting his legs up higher than usual.

"Yeah well… We can work on that. I suppose it would be useful to watch each other's backs in battle though," Sothe said, trying to stop himself from smiling.

"Great! I'll go tell Muarim! See you later!" Tormod said, running off shouting about how he had a new best friend.

This time, Sothe was definitely smiling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI: Hope Restored**

Now that he and Tormod were friends they fought together as often as Tormod could get next to Sothe, which was very often, in Sothe's opinion. And because Muarim would never let his "little one" out of his sight he was never far away from Sothe either. As Ike's Crimean Liberation Army grew larger the sleeping arrangements grew tighter. Initially Sothe had had his own tent but now he had to pair up, or triple up really, with Tormod and Muarim. The tiger had immediately taken to Sothe even though they'd almost killed each other when they first met. He began to affectionately call him "little Sothe", much to Sothe's chagrin and Tormod's amusement. Although Sothe was unused to spending so much time with other people he found that he almost enjoyed hanging out with Tormod and Muarim.

After failing to capture both the Duke and the heron at the Duke's residence the Apostle assigned the Greil Mercenaries one last mission. They were to enter the Serenes Forest to rescue the heron prince and, if possible, kill Duke Oliver. Calling it a forest was a bit misleading though, because nothing in it was alive, nor had it been for about 20 years according to Nasir. Sothe was not happy about fighting there, the place reeked of death and was so swampy and covered in mist you couldn't see five paces in front of you. But fight there they did, and the battle quickly became the longest the Greil Mercenaries had ever engaged in as they fought off what was effectively a small army.

While the majority of Ike's troops held off the Tanasian army, small task forces were put together at Soren's suggestion to attack key, theoretically vulnerable positions. The idea was to speed up what might otherwise take days ands to keep casualties to a minimum. Sothe was assigned to a task force headed by the Crimean sub commander Titania. Their target was a supply base far behind enemy lines that was also the location of the commander's tent. It was here that they hoped to find proof of Duke Oliver's misdeeds, and it was also part of the larger plan to destroy the Tanasian army's ability to fight. Even if the Greil Mercenaries were unable to beat them decisively in battle, they could at least starve them out.

Sothe's group rode quickly though the swampy forest, everyone on top of a horse, even Sothe who had never ridden one in his life. Besides Sothe the group was made up of Titania, Rhys (a healer), and Astrid (a knight who wielded bows and lances). The group set off after the first of what would ultimately be four skirmishes concluded, heading north and then breaking east to avoid the enemy.

Sothe, who was on Astrid's horse, thought he heard the sound of someone splashing behind them as they crossed a particularly wet section of the forest. Turning around to look around Astrid's thin body he saw something that made him laugh so hard he almost fell off the horse. Muarim was charging through the swamp and, bouncing on top of him, was Tormod. Without anything to hold on to however Tormod kept falling off, shouting shrilly every time he did.

"Muarim!" Tormod yelled as he fell off once again.

"Do not yell at me, little one, this was your idea," Muarim said calmly.

"My idea was perfect, you're just doing it wrong," Tormod shot back. "You keep jumping up and down as you run, it's more of a gliding motion," he said as he demonstrated by holding out his arms and running. "Try to be more like a bird, like Vika,"

"But I am not a bird, and I don't have any wings. This is the only way I know how to run," Muarim said as Tormod clambered onto his back.

"At the very least just try imagining you're a bird, just a little bit. You never know it might help," Tormod said as Muarim started off again.

"Of course, little one," Muarim humored him.

Turning around Sothe started to check all his knives were where they should be and he still had that vulnerary on him. Titania had called out that they'd be arriving soon and he wanted to make sure he was ready. As they rounded a corner they could see what was hopefully the command post they were supposed to be attacking. Either way there wasn't anything they could do now if it wasn't.

"All right, form up team," called out Titania "this is it. You all know what the plan is; Astrid and me will take the front, handling the majority of the soldiers. Sothe you run around behind us and burn all the supplies that you can. Slip into the tents as well, one of them is supposed to be the Duke's and he'll hopefully have some incriminating evidence in there somewhere. Rhys you stay behind Astrid and me and keep us healed, any questions?"

"Yeah, who's going to keep "little Sothe" from getting a lance shoved in his back?" Tormod asked as he and Muarim walked out of the shadows behind the group.

"Tormod. I thought you and Muarim were supposed to be guarding the camp," Titania said, frowning at them.

"What!?" Tormod said, pretending to be aghast, "Muarim! What were you thinking? You can't just lie about what we're supposed to be doing! It destroys all the organization Soren works so hard to create and violates everything it means to be a soldier. After this battle you and me are going to have to have a very long talk Mr.,"

"Yes, I apologize little one" Muarim said, hanging his head as if he were ashamed of himself.

"I'm truly sorry for this Titania. Muarim just doesn't fully understand what being in an army means. He's used to doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants. But since we're here now I guess you'll just have to make do with us. Anywhere in particular you'd like us to go?" Tormod asked, seemingly apologetic.

"Yes well, we could put Muarim up front with me and Astrid, the more muscle the better. And Tormod you could go around with Sothe and help burn the supplies, I'm sure you'd be very good at that," Titania said, smiling faintly as she saw straight through Tormod's ruse.

"Excellent, what are we waiting for then? Let's charge!" Tormod shouted, pulling Sothe along with him as he ran down the incline into the enemy camp.

"Yes, charge!" Titania shouted as the others followed him and Tormod down the slope to begin the attack.

* * *

Although Sothe would never admit it, he and Tormod worked well together, very well in fact. Sothe may have been a thief, but his fighting style, which had formed while he was travelling with Micaiah, put him in front of and guarding whomever he was fighting with. Although Volke did his best to beat this out of Sothe, it worked well when he was fighting next to a mage, who, like a thief, wasn't meant to be attacked. Tormod, though his personality seemed slightly at odds with it, was a mage at heart and was used to attacking soldiers from behind the wall that was Muarim. Their fighting styles thus complemented one another, and made them far more deadly a pair than either would have been alone.

Enemies saw Sothe first, running straight at them. Then Tormod would launch several fire attacks, burning everything in his path. Before they would decide whom to attack Sothe took the choice out of their hands, slitting their throats one after the other. After all the guards in each area were dead Sothe would enter the tents and pilfer anything and everything the Liberation Army might need. Once he was done he'd go back outside to find every barrel, box, and bag of supplies thoroughly burned by Tormod. Above all the two were efficient, for Soren's plan to work each team to run in, quickly destroy the supply depot, and then get out of there before the main army could retaliate.

Were Sothe alone he might not have been able to do everything himself. The large number of soldiers he would have needed to kill, supplies to burn, and documents and chests to rifle through might have been too much for the young thief. But with Tormod by his side the two easily accomplished all of their objectives, and still had time to reinforce Titania, Astrid, and Muarim before they left the compound.

With their mission complete Sothe's group returned to the Liberation Army to participate in the final skirmish, the one that finally broke the Tanasian forces, and resulted in the Duke's demise. After the battle not one, but two herons were rescued, and they absolved the Apostle of the crimes of her people. Sothe didn't understand why the Apostle needed to be forgiven for a crime she hadn't committed, but her didn't pursue the matter.

* * *

"Come on you two, hurry up or we're going to miss the ceremony!" Tormod said to Sothe and Muarim. The three were currently inside their tent, and Sothe and Muarim were in the middle of a game Muarim called chess. The goal was to capture the opponent's king without losing your own, and the game's intricacies fascinated Sothe. All the different moves and strategies, he imagined this is what the Greil Mercenaries' tactician Soren spent all his time doing. He had yet to beat Muarim, but he'd been playing it every free moment he had for the past few months and he was improving. The herons were however planning some sort of ceremony and Tormod was impatient to see it, so Sothe and Muarim put their game down for the moment and followed Tormod out into the dead forest.

As the Greil Mercenaries gathered in front of what looked like an old temple of some sort the herons began to sing in the ancient language. It was the same tongue Micaiah used to cast her spells, Sothe realized. Except, when the herons did it their voices seemed to be magnified one hundred fold. Their melody carried throughout the entire forest, healing everything and everyone in it. The sight was amazing to behold. Before their very eyes the forest came back to life. The tress, burnt and long dead stood up straight and glowed again with what could only be described as the light of the Goddess Ashera herself. The dead bark seemed to fall off and disappear as new healthy trunks replaced it, leaves sprouting everywhere. Suddenly what had previously been an eerily silent marsh became a forest positively humming with the calls of small animals; the sounds of life sprung up all around them.

Sothe slowly turned in a full circle, trying to take all of it in. For once his mind was blissfully clear of worrying about food or survival or anything. For one small moment he could just look around and take security in the raw display of the power of the heron tribe. If they could bring an entire forest back to life was there anything they couldn't accomplish? Seeing all of this gave Sothe, and the rest of the mercenaries, faith that they could win this war and would be able to free Crimea from the Daein oppression.

For Sothe, it also reassured him of something else. He hadn't seen Micaiah for almost a year now, and he had been beginning to despair of ever finding her. At first he'd joined Ike because they were both going the same way. But the more he travelled with the Greil Mercenaries the more he felt like he was betraying Micaiah. "But she betrayed me first by leaving me!" one part of his mind would always say. "So find her and show her how much you care about her," the other half would always respond. The real question wasn't whether or not he should look for her though; Sothe knew in his heart he would never truly abandon her. No it was more how to go about doing so. He knew she went through Begnion, that much was clear, but then what? He had no idea what she did once she got to Sienne. Begnion had closed the border to Daein and effectively Crimea (which was part of Daein now) once the war had started so if she'd gone to one or the other she'd have to have done it by sneaking across the border. If the border guards would have no record if she had left then the trail had gone well and truly cold.

If he had to hazard a guess though he thought she would most likely have gone back to Daein. She would want to avoid the war, which ruled out Crimea, but she'd also want to earn her money on the "right" side of the law. The only way to do that by herself would be fortune telling, which ruled out Begnion, thus Daein was her logical destination. This (coincidentally Sothe kept telling himself) was also the Liberation Army's destination.

In addition to his teacher Volke and only friends Tormod and Muarim, there was Ike himself. The man was the strongest warrior Sothe had ever seen. It seemed like his every stroke was a deathblow to yet another enemy soldier, all the while he sustained almost no major injuries. After the Serenes Forest battle Ike was made Supreme General of the Liberation Army, which now included Begnion's hard-won support, and the title alone seemed to make him even fiercer in battle. Sothe thought that if there was anyone who was perfect in basically every way, it was Commander Ike. In addition to being unbeatable in battle the Commander was as uncorrupt, just, and open minded as possible. Sothe constantly wondered how anyone could delude himself or herself into thinking that a system that made men like Ashnard kings and men like Ike lowly mercenaries could be fair. Some day Sothe would be just as strong and wise as Ike, and then he'd be able to truly protect Micaiah.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII: The Price of Freedom**

The Apostle saw fit to provide the Greil Mercenaries with a division of Begnion troops, and promoted Ike to General of the combined forces. Ike shouldered his new duties as he had his old, with levelheadedness and a steel resolve. With Ike at the helm the Crimean Liberation army advanced steadily through Daein, defeating Ashnard's forces at every turn. For the first time they were engaged with the full might of Daein, and they showed the world that Crimea did have a chance at regaining its independence. Their strategy now was to make their way toward Nevassa and hope, that with enough victories under their belt, Begnion and Gallia would send them enough troops to take the capital.

As they marched through Daein Sothe could not help but feel some small regret at the pain they were putting these people through. This war wasn't Daein's fault; it was Ashnard's. He alone had declared war on Crimea and he alone had raised the army to fight that war. Now, to force Ashnard to face justice, and to free the people of Crimea, they needed to place this burden on the citizens of Daein. Although this hurt him, for it did hurt him. It hurt to put the land of his birth through this necessary struggle; he realized it hurt him less than he thought it would.

He'd seen Elincia's and Ike's and all the Crimeans' pain when they thought about the invasion. He'd felt the herons' pain for the loss of their nation when they sang the Serenes forest back to life. And most of all he'd seen Muarim and Tormod's pain as they talked about the laguz still enslaved in Begnion. But he didn't share in the people's pain when he looked out over Daein. He didn't feel any more pain for Daein than he did for Crimea or Serenes or Begnion. As they continued their long march to the capital, his birthplace, he realized that he had no particular love for his country. Perhaps it was the many years he'd spent wandering the continent. Or that he was treated as dirt by both Daeins and foreigners, but even if Daein crumbled after the war, it was worth it. It was worth it because Daeins and Crimeans were equal in Sothe's eyes; they were no different than laguz and beorc, or men and women. As Ike would say, they were all people.

* * *

Sothe was climbing over the last hill before he'd be in sight of the gates of Nevassa. Ike had decided to send him ahead to worm his way into the city and see if he could bring back information about enemy installations. Soren suspected that Daein was not yet aware of how close the Liberation army was because the Empress had given them a division of winged horses. These soldiers had effectively shut down the Daein army's wyvern spy system. Normally Daein would send out wyvern riders to map troop placements and estimate the size of the approaching army. But the Liberation army was small enough that the Pegasus knights were able to keep the skies clear. With any luck the gates to Nevassa would not yet be closed and Sothe would be able to slip in and then out without much trouble. Volke would normally have led the expedition but Sothe's teacher, who it turned out was not a mere thief as he'd pretended to be but rather a highly trained assassin, was out on some sort of private mission. Thus Sothe was now on his own trying to infiltrate the most impregnable city in Tellius.

In a way, Soren had been right. Sothe was able to get in rather easily, but that was only because the city seemed to be abandoned. The gate was closed but without any guards to stop him Sothe was able to climb over the wall without too much trouble. As he walked around the stillness began to scare him; literally no one seemed to be here except for him. He finally decided to break into a house to see if anyone at all was around but the loud crash of the window breaking brought no one to the scene. Hopping in Sothe saw that the place had been well and truly abandoned, all the valuables and personal items gone. Breaking into two other houses he was met with the same result.

The sun set as he returned to the camp with the disturbing report that Nevassa's citizens seemed to have abandoned the city, which suggested the Daein army knew exactly where they were, and were prepared to fight them. Sothe knew that if the army wasn't going to fight them at the walls of Daein, it would do so in the more easily defendable Daein keep. There was also no way to sneak into Daein keep, so they'd be going in blind, which was not an ideal situation when facing off against Mad King Ashnard. Before he became king of Daein Ashnard was the most famous of Daein's warriors, single-handedly turning the tide in a small war Daein had been engaged in with Begnion. But who stood at the end of their long and bloody path had never been a mystery to any of them.

Because they didn't have to lay siege to an entire city, Soren suggested they attack now. Originally they would have camped out in the woods until they received word from the Apostle on whether or not she could send them any more reinforcements. Soren however felt that the smaller area Daein would have to defend would largely nullify the advantage additional numbers would give them, especially since additional reconnaissance showed no Daein troops patrolling the outside of the keep. He suspected they wanted to fight the Liberation army inside the keep even though strategically it would make more sense to keep them outside. That was unless they thought they'd easily crush the freedom fighters, in which case they'd pay dearly for their overconfidence.

So it was with great caution that the Greil Mercenaries entered Daein keep, of course, great caution for Ike meant he wasn't running straight at his enemy. The fort held far more troops than Crimea had, but it was significantly fewer than Soren had suspected. It was the first sign that everything was not as it seemed. The other sign was that none of the Great Riders, the strongest warriors in Daein, seemed to be present. Upon fighting their way into the throne room it became clear why that was; Ashnard wasn't there. While fighting the dragon that was there she told Ike Ashnard had taken up residence in Crimea's capital Melior instead, all but abandoning Daein to the hands of the Greil Mercenaries.

After Ike defeated the Goldoan dragon Nasir surprisingly showed up in the throne room. However, he finally showed his true colors. He entered the room after the fighting had stopped and attacked Ike, buying the Daein dragon general enough time to escape. Now that Ike had effectively conquered all of Daein Sothe looked at the situation and couldn't help but laugh to himself that Daein and Crimea had at this point switched places on the map. Ashnard ruled over Crimea and Crimea alone, while Elincia inhabited Daein's capital Nevassa. The next battle it appeared would prove the turning point. If Ike won it would place him in prime position to finally begin freeing Crimeans from Daein rule. If Ashnard won, it would check, possibly once and for all, the momentum the Liberation army was gaining.

* * *

As the Greil Mercenaries were settling in to Daein keep after the battle Sothe decided to explore the city. He highly doubted everyone in Nevassa had just up and left, there must be some people who either wouldn't or couldn't leave. His first destination was the marketplace, which, as the economic center of Daein, was usually crowded twenty-four hours a day. Even at night the place was well illuminated and filled with shoppers, at least that's the way it was when Sothe lived there. Now the place was, for the first time in Sothe's memory, completely empty. Surprisingly it filled him with a sense of longing for days long past. He almost missed the simpler life of being a thief on the street. Back when he didn't have to worry about armies and the war, whether he was doing what was right by joining Ike, and his never-ending search for Micaiah.

Micaiah. Before her name had filled him with rage. Anger at how she had cruelly abandoned him, pain that came with the accompanying loneliness, and most of all a burning desire to find her again. Of the three he now only felt the last. The anger had cooled with time as he came to understand her reasons for leaving, however inadequate they were. And joining the Greil Mercenaries, as well as befriending Tormod and Muarim, had driven away the loneliness.

Looking up he saw his feet had taken him to what had once been one of his favorite haunts back when he was a street urchin. He smiled for a moment at the fond memories before a scuffling from behind him brought him back to the present. Whipping around, he found himself staring at a group of children, whose ages varied it seemed from about five to maybe fifteen years old, but all were covered in dirt and rags. They stood there at first, simply staring. Many were probably trying to decide whether or not to attack and take his clothes and amour, but then one of the taller girls stepped forward.

"Sothe? Is that you?" she asked, keeping her distance.

"Yeah…" Sothe said as he stood there for a moment, trying to remember how he knew this girl. Suddenly she sneezed very violently, and it all came back to him.

"Daniella right? I remember you," Sothe said. It was the sneeze that did it, she had never been able to steal anything because she'd always sneeze and get caught. "You had a little kid gang or whatever you called it. Trying to get us to rise up and get Daein to protect us and set up orphanages or something?"

"So you do remember, I wasn't sure you would. It's been awhile since we offered to let you join us, though you never did," Daniella said, somewhat angrily it seemed to Sothe. Normally he would have just brushed away her accusations but since he was outnumbered thirty or so to one he thought it best to get on her good side.

"It was nothing personal, I just didn't like your method for doing things. Helping the homeless children of Daein is all well and good, but helping Daein attack those who didn't join your little club? I refuse stoop that low," Sothe said.

"Has the "Green Scourge" gone soft after all these years? Don't pretend to be all high and mighty with me. I remember when you wouldn't blink twice before gutting anyone who stood between you and your freedom. If you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem, simple as that. It was for the greater good to ally with Daein to protect a few of us than for all of us to be treated as criminals. You've allowed society to brainwash you into believing its honeyed lies. Now you've become nothing more than a tool for the rich to abuse us with," Daniella mocked Sothe.

"Look, I won't try to defend myself, Daniella. I have done terrible things, yes, but past misdeeds are no reason to continue making mistakes. Ashnard's regime is corrupt and evil; trying to barter with the devil will only end badly for you. There's no guarantee Daein will keep its word, you must see that. What is to stop Ashnard from using you to attack other orphans on the street and then killing you?" Sothe tried to reason with her.

"The results of our deal are already in Sothe, look around you. Now we own Nevassa, the capital of the greatest nation on Tellius. We have achieved freedom and prosperity, and yet you still stand against us. Like a rat you have joined with King Ashnard's enemies and like a cat we will kill you for him," Daniella said, drawing her knife.

"You are blind, all of you! "Own Nevassa" what does that mean exactly? There's nothing left, no food nor valuables nor people. Everyone, even your precious king, has abandoned this place. Your "enemy" is now feasting in Daein keep, victorious. Times are changing, Daniella, and if you cannot adapt to changes in the environment you will lose, all of us know this better than most. Now open your eyes see the truth, which is standing right in front of you. Ashnard played you for fools and has left you to die at the hands of an invading army, an army that will soon depose the Mad King himself. Now a choice lies before you: side with me and stay out of my way or try to stop me. I suggest you choose carefully," Sothe said.

No one moved for several seconds, and then Daniella pointed her knife at Sothe and said, "Get him,"

On command the children ran forward towards Sothe who said, under his breath, "Well, I tried, Micaiah," before crouching down and edging away from the oncoming wave of starved street urchins. Some wielded small knives, but most carried sticks, rocks, or both as weapons. Sothe chose not to draw his own dagger however, perhaps feeling some small empathy for his former friends. When the mass of a children was about to descend on him Sothe suddenly leapt forward, knocking a few over and managing to disappear into their ranks.

"Clear out, clear out! We need to find him, quickly before he escapes!" Daniella ordered her followers. But the group's effort was in vain, for when everyone had dispersed Sothe was nowhere to be found.

* * *

That night, as Sothe rested on one of the terraces of Daein keep, he looked over the city he had once called home and found that, despite everything, he would miss it when the Greil Mercenaries moved on. Despite his conflicting feelings over the place he found that a part of him wished to leave everything behind and go back to the slums. A much larger part of him however wanted to stay with his new friends, overthrow an evil king, and find Micaiah, but it couldn't completely silence the other part.

It was in this reflective state that Ike found him, and the much larger man settled down next to Sothe, not speaking for several moments. Eventually Ike broke the silence, asking what was bothering Sothe, and if it had anything to do with the person he was looking for. Sothe told Ike he'd taken a break from looking, preferring to assume that somewhere she was doing all right. When Ike pressed him for the reason behind his current mood Sothe admitted that Daein was his homeland, something he'd refrained from telling anyone. He had been afraid someone might try to kill him if they knew he was a Daein thief, but he'd come to trust Commander Ike with his life. He went on to tell Ike about how he'd met up with some of his old friends, but refrained from mentioning how they'd tried to kill him; no need to add yet another problem to Ike's already overflowing plate.

Instead Sothe explained that his old friends, despite having complained bitterly about Daein before the war, were now very much in favor of Ashnard over Crimea. He went on to speculate that this affection for the Mad King was due to Ashnard's belief that the only quality that mattered in a person was their fighting strength; birth was inconsequential. The dream of rising out of the slums and becoming a shining knight of Daein was only possible under Ashnard, and now the street urchins feared that loss of freedom. On that note Sothe apologized to Ike for his Daein sympathies, and bade him a good night.

Although Sothe fell asleep quickly Ike stayed out much longer, quietly reflecting on the implications of what Sothe had said late into the night. Until this moment he had not really considered what the war meant for the people of Daein. When he thought about what they were doing it was always from the point of view of Crimea, from which the war was undoubtedly justified. And even when the Liberation army had stopped in Talrega to help the people recover from having their fields flooded, the destruction had been the work of Daein, not the Crimeans. To top it all off, Ashnard was quite literally mad; Ike had naively assumed it would be in Daein's best interest to remove him from power, but then what? What would happen to Daein after the war?

Soren had maintained that as the victors rule of Daein would and should fall under Crimea's responsibility (i.e. the soon-to-be-Queen, Elincia). When she was asked to way in however Elincia said that she wasn't sure they would have the resources to rebuild both Daein and Crimea. Soren's response was that Crimea didn't need to rebuild Daein; rather they should just take what resources they could from it to help with Crimea's restoration. Initially Ike hadn't really thought Soren's proposal was such a bad idea. After all, Daein had started the war, hadn't they? It was they who had invaded and destroyed Crimea, and it was only right that Crimea fight back. If rebuilding Crimea required Daein resources, so what? Daein was certainly using Crimean resources for itself right now; it was only fair they do the same in return no?

His conversation with Sothe made Ike brought something new to Ike's attention though. Daein and Ashnard were not one and the same; Ashnard was using Crimean resources for his benefit, not Daein's. That much was made clear when they found Ashnard abandoned Daein to set up his base of operations in Crimea. Whatever happened after the war, the people of Daein should not be made to suffer. They, like the Crimeans, should only benefit at the end of the day. This would be his only request to Elincia when Ashnard was dead and Crimea was freed. And now that he was a noble his requests would carry just a little bit more weight.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII: Seeds of Doubt**

Following what was largely the symbolic capture of the Daein capital, Nevassa, the Crimean-Emancipation army, headed by General Ike, prepared to liberate Crimea. Before leaving the capital they were reinforced with additional Begnion troops under the command of the enigmatic General Zelgius. Ike was finally the general of a sizeable army, and their prospects for re-taking Crimea were beginning to look up. With the Begnion troops guarding the rear and the Greil Mercenaries taking the lead the Liberation army made for the, relatively, small Riven Bridge, which was the only way to enter Crimea (by land) from neighboring Daein. The so-called "great bridge" was the ideal location to defend against an invasion. Although it had not been put to its best use by Crimea when the surprise invasion began, this time there was no confusion as to when and where the invading army would attack. The bridge was well defended by one of Daein's Four Riders, the fiery General Petrine, who had her troops dig pits on the bridge to slow down the invaders. Nonetheless, after the bloodiest battle so far, the Crimeans pushed across the bridge and entered the land they'd sacrificed so much to save.

Following their victory at the Riven Bridge the Liberation army made its way farther into Crimea. They arrived shortly at Castle Delbray, which housed the remnants of the Crimean army that had been defeated in the invasion. Now that they were on Crimean soil and the end was in sight, there was a noticeable uptick in the morale amongst the troops. Having rescued the Crimean army from the Daeins the Liberation army was again bolstered, this time by the Gallian and Phoenician armies. With every country except Goldoa and Kilvas fighting against Daein, her defeat seemed inevitable. The next major loss for Daein came at Fort Pinell, one of the two most important outposts in Crimea's defenses, and with its fall went yet another of Daein's riders, General Bertram. Next the Liberation army takes Nados Castle, the final obstacle between them and the capital of Crimea, Melior. In doing so Ike defeats the Black Knight, the third Rider of Daein, and the man responsible for his father's death.

Emboldened by their victory, the Crimeans next conquer Gritnea Tower, which housed many cruel experiments on laguz while under Ashnard's control. Finally, after almost a year at war, they advance upon Ashnard, who sits comfortably in Melior, unconcerned with the threat posed by Ike and his army. The battle for Melior would have to be measured on a scale not yet seen in the war. There would be four separate ground fronts, one of which would be overseen by the Greil mercenaries and two by Giffca, representative of the King of Gallia. In the sky the hawks of Phoenicis and the ravens of Kilvas (who agreed to enter the war after the events at Gritnea Tower) would prevent any airborne units from attacking the rest of the Liberation army as well as guarding the last gate of the castle. To ensure no troops were able to escape the Liberation army would first have to break into Melior and hold the gates.

* * *

Accomplishing this might have taken months if it was done by the usual method of siege warfare. There was, however, rarely anything "usual" in the Greil Mercenaries' method of war, and why should there be with a tactician like Soren? In this case Soren suggested they infiltrate Melior before hand, and open the gates from the inside. Before now the only people the Greil Mercenaries had who could perform such an operation were Volke and Sothe, so it had never really been an option. Now however they could use the many thieves the Begnion army possessed, along with the raven laguz who would be able to fly them into the castle, hopefully unnoticed in the dark of night.

To infiltrate so well defended a castle with enough people to open four separate gates, Soren decided they would have to start off with something a little less than sneaky. Liberation archers would pick off all the men guarding the northern wall, which would hopefully give the ravens a window of at least a couple of minutes to fly in, drop the thieves inside, and then get out again. Once inside the thieves would go to their assigned gates, kill the guards, and drop them when the main army gave the signal. There were four gates that had to be opened, two to the east, one to the west, and another to the south. Solely Begnion thieves would handle the two eastern ones. For the other two Soren initially wanted Sothe to take the western one with a small contingent of thieves, and Volke to take the southern one, also with a small Begnion contingent. This was because the southern gate was crucial, as it was through here the Greil Mercenaries would enter the castle, find, and take down Ashnard.

To everyone's surprise, including Sothe's, Volke suggested Sothe instead take the southern gate. When Soren and Sothe protested, Volke insisted his pupil was more than ready for this assignment. Soren agreed only after spymaster of Begnion assured him he would put the best troops he had into Sothe's division. The plan thus set, Sothe retired to his tent to get what little sleep he could before the final battle.

"Hello little Sothe," was Muarim's greeting as Sothe entered the tent.

"Hey, Muarim," Sothe said, sitting down on his cot to sharpen his knives.

"So, Mr. Big-shot here will be opening the gate to let us in all by his lonesome. Think you can handle it without me?" Tormod said as he entered the tent a few steps behind Sothe, a wide grin on his face.

"Your ability to listen in under unguarded tent flaps is as unparalleled as ever," Sothe said.

"Don't act so high and mighty with me! Why just the other day Volke offered to teach me how to be an assassin. Must make you feel pretty bad, only being a lowly thief and all,"

"Was this before or after he refused to teach you how to use a knife?"

"… Do you want my help or not?"

"Your help with what, exactly?"

"Taking down the gate of course! I know you're strong and everything but come on,"

"I'm not sure I understand…" said Sothe slowly, the coldness in his voice in sharp contrast to the lighthearted tone of their earlier conversation.

"Just that you'll need my help is all. After all, you'll be up against the best soldiers Ashnard has, the imperial guard! You're great for a thief but, we both know it, you're not really a fighter. Volke? That guy's a fighter! You just specialize in other things, like opening doors and chests and stuff. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But for this mission you'll need to be able to take down bad guys and open stuff, and that's what you have me for!" Tormod said, blissfully unaware of the effect his words were having on the young thief.

Sothe may not have been visibly upset by Tormod's words, he was much to good at disguising his emotions for that, but Muarim sensed a definite shift in the atmosphere of the room. Sothe didn't say anything at first, and then with a motion that might have been something akin to a shrug he got to his feet and left, saying,

"I think I'll sleep by myself, tonight. I'll see you tomorrow," to a surprised Tormod and a sympathetic Muarim.

After Sothe left the tent he crossed his arms and focused on controlling his breathing for a couple of seconds.

"Stupid Tormod, doesn't know anything about fighting," Sothe said to himself. "I can take down just as many soldiers as he can,"

"But can you really?" said a voice in Sothe's head. "Look around you, look how strong everyone is becoming. Ike's become a lord, Tormod has promoted to a sage, little Rolf's a sniper now, and Volke's an assassin! Then there's you, a small little thief trying to fit in with an army of heroes. You don't belong here; you're just a burden on everyone else,"

"No, no I'm not!" Sothe answered, "Volke said I should be the one to capture the most important gate. He wouldn't say that unless he thought I was strong enough to do it!"

"Or because you, unlike him, are expendable. The strongest spies in Begnion will be trying to open that gate, whether you're there or not it will open, and Ashnard will fall. You could leave right now and that wouldn't change a thing,"

"Stop it! You're wrong. I'll show you, I'll show them all! Tomorrow morning I will be the one to open the gate, not the Begnion spies, and I will do it without anyone's help either!"

"We'll see…"said the voice, finally stopping its merciless assault on Sothe's ego.

* * *

"What's his problem?" Tormod asked Muarim angrily as Sothe left the tent.

"Think about what you said, little one," Muarim said, patiently waiting for Tormod to catch on.

"But it's the truth!"

"Just because something is true, that doesn't mean we should say it,"

"It's his fault for overreacting," said Tormod bitterly.

"Step into Sothe's boots for a second, little one. Think about how hard it must be for little Sothe to look around and see everyone becoming stronger and learning amazing new skills. Like you. Now you can use magic, and heal people, and you're learning how to use a knife thanks to Calill. But Volke still won't teach Sothe how to be an assassin or use any other kinds of weapons. His is a hard and lonely road, little one, but he hides the pain behind his mask of indifference. We should be supportive of him, not mocking," Muarim explained, surprisingly insightful about Sothe's condition.

"Maybe he's just have a bad day or something," Tormod said thoughtfully, clearly not listening to a word Muarim had said.

"Little one!"

"Ouch, Muarim! There's no need to shout, I'm right here! What is it, what do you want?"

"I think little Sothe wants to be alone right now, but after the battle I want you to apologize to him. And I want you to let him fight on his own. Let him prove he's just as capable as everyone else even if he can't fly or shoot lightning out of his hands, all right?"

"Fine, whatever. But if he messes up and gets himself killed I'm going to murder him,"

"Of course little one,"

* * *

That night Sothe decided he'd capture the gate without any help, from either the other spies, or the ravens. To do so he'd first have to climb over the wall. Earlier reconnaissance had shown the least well-defended wall was the northern one, probably because there was no gate there for the Liberation army to enter through. Sothe's plan was simple, but would work because most of the guards stayed in the towers and very few actually patrolled the walls. Sothe would simply kill the one guard who walked between the two towers on the northern wall with a throwing knife, slip over (after retrieving his knife) and be on his merry way. From the noise coming from the two towers, he thought it unlikely that they would hear him. Knowing that if he were caught he'd ruin Soren's entire plan, Sothe prayed for the first time in his life that any god or goddess who was listening would grant him success. Then he briefly prayed that Micaiah was okay and that the two would be re-united soon.

His prayers complete Sothe waited for the guard to be almost directly in front of him before throwing his knife. The distance between Sothe and his target seemed to be about 50 ft, give or take a few, which was a much larger distance than even Volke would expect him to be able to make the throw. Luckily for Sothe it was a windless night, so he might have a chance. As he released the blade he watched it fly up in a long arc before falling back towards the earth. There was a few seconds delay and then… The guard paused, seemed to stumble, and finally fell off the wall.

_Yes!_ Sothe thought to himself as he ran up to the retrieve his knife from the body and then scale the wall. No normal person would ever have been able to climb the well-kept wall, but for someone like Volke and Sothe even a slightly out of place stone was enough to use for leverage. Hoisting himself over the top Sothe glanced at either tower, but no one had yet noticed anything was wrong and he quickly climbed down the other side. Once in the keep he kept within the shadow of the outer wall, as he ran around to the southern gate. Tonight he was wearing a black cloak over his normal green one to help him blend in, and was successful as no one noticed the shadow making its way through the garden outside the castle. Once he reached the bottom of the large gatehouse he began picking the lock. Because they had the plans to the castle Volke was able to craft four sets of, while not keys exactly, picks specially designed for these very locks. It thus took Sothe mere seconds to gain entrance to the tower.

So far his plan was working out perfectly, now was the hard part however. Tormod was right when he pointed out that these were Daein's best troops. Sothe did however have the element of surprise on his side, and no one could capitalize on the element of surprise like a thief. It was a narrow staircase, which was all the better for Sothe so only one soldier could attack him at a time.

"Did you hear something?" someone from higher up on the staircase asked.

"No…" another voice answered it, evidently not interested in helping his companion investigate.

"I'm going to go see if anyone's down there,"

"Good plan, you go find the source of your mysterious little sound, and I'll finish off the rest of this rum. Go team!"

Sothe waited for the man to come around the bed and into his line of sight, he assumed it would be fairly simple to silence him, he sounded like a nervous new recruit. His assessment could not have been farther from the mark. The man turned out to be at least six foot five and probably weighed over three hundred pounds. Sothe immediately knifed him, but the man didn't even seem to feel it as he picked Sothe up and threw him bodily down the stairs.

"It's just some kid, don't worry, I got him," the man shouted up to his companion as he calmly walked down the stairs to where he'd thrown Sothe.

"If I get out of this alive, I deserve a medal or something," Sothe said as he picked himself back up, all his muscles crying out in protest.

When the giant came back into sight he throwing punches and kicks at Sothe, any of which connecting would probably have resulted in at least one broken rib. Sothe calmly backed down the stairs, waiting for an opening. He got it when the man, fed up, lunged for Sothe, who rolled around him and up the stairs (no easy task) as the man stumbled down them. Sothe then turned and jumped, landing man's back, with one arm securely around his neck Sothe used the other to plunge yet another dagger into the man's spine. Sothe jumped off him as the man fell, he was dead before he reached the ground.

Picking up his blood-covered daggers Sothe continued up the staircase. Soon he found an open door through sat another soldier, this one however seemed to have drunken himself into a stupor. Judging from the many empty bottles lying around he would not wake up until long after the battle. Just to be safe though Sothe slit his throat and robbed him of any and all valuables he was carrying. The farther up he went the more soldiers he encountered, none were able however to send word farther up the tower before Sothe silenced them.

"This'll show Tormod," Sothe said to himself as he killed yet another Daein soldier, "I must have killed at least twenty guys so far, no way he can beat that,"

* * *

Finally Sothe reached the top of the tower, where the mechanism for operating the gate was. Although he'd have to wait for the other spies to show up to open it, wouldn't they be shocked when they found everyone already dead and Sothe waiting up here all alone? There was just one more man to face, the captain of the guard. Sothe entered the top room, and was surprised to find no one there. Looking around, confused, he wondered where the captain could be? Then one of Volke's favorite pieces of advice came to mind, 'Nine times out of ten, boy, they won't look up. If you're ever setting a trap for someone, do so from above,"

Sothe looked up just in time, the captain had been on the ceiling, like a spider, and dropped down just as Sothe thought to check there. He managed to raise his knives to defend himself just as the captain's knives were about to slice open his head.

"Hhmm, so you're not completely hopeless," the captain said as Sothe rolled out from under him and back towards the door to give himself some breathing space. Not him, but her, Sothe realized. The captain was a young woman it seemed, a young woman with an eerily glowing eye. Wait a minute, that eye, it wasn't glowing, there was a mark there! A mark like Micaiah and Soren's! Which meant the captain must be a branded. That wasn't good, the branded tended to be more powerful than humans.

"I see you're all alone, how unfortunate, for both of us. I would rather have liked a bit more of a challenge, but, what can you do? My name is Umbra, top assassin in Daein," she said, looking at him expectantly.

Sothe looked at her blankly, was that name supposed to mean something to him?

"No? Never heard of me, well, perhaps you've heard of the King's Fist then?"

Although on the outside Sothe did not react to her revelation, on the inside he shuddered in fear because yes, he had heard of the King's Fist before. She was known throughout Tellius as one of the most dangerous women alive, and thanks to her there was less and less competition for that title every year. Within the Daein military, she was supposedly the only one who could compete with the Great Riders, except for Ashnard himself of course. This was not a fight Sothe thought he could win, and apparently she didn't think so either.

"Child, you needn't make your transition to the next world a painful one. Just drop your weapons and I'll make this quick," Umbra promised him.

"No," Sothe said softly, looking down at his feet.

"What did you-"

"No," Sothe said more loudly, looking up to face her. I won't lose. I can't. I came in here alone because of my ego. And I'll get out of here alive because of Micaiah. I promised her I'd protect her, and that is one promise I will never break,"

"How sweet of you. Well if that's your decision, let's get this over with then shall we? Your move,"

Sothe took a moment to calm himself and focus on his surroundings after her surprise attack. There wasn't much he could use in the room, just a window with its curtains drawn, a couple of chairs, and the mechanism for raising and lowering the gate. It looked like he'd be on his own for this one. Returning all his attention to Umbra, he suddenly jumped forward, letting out a cry as he swung the two daggers he held in a deadly arc towards her face.

She didn't even have to raise her own weapons to defend herself; instead she just kicked him, hard, in the stomach, sending him clear across the room. That was the second time today Sothe felt all the air leave his body, and like the previous time, his opponent leisurely walked over, not seeking to press their advantage.

"Care to try that again?" she taunted his prone form, "I could have gutted you like a fish if I'd wanted to. Come on, I know you can do better than that, try to impress me, if you do I might just let you live,"

"If there's one thing you Daein soldiers don't lack, it is conceit," Sothe said wearily, picking himself up once more. But she was right; he certainly would not try a frontal assault again. Instead he drew a throwing knife as he struggled to pick himself up and once he was on his feet threw it straight at her. This attack had better results; even though she blocked the missile with one of her own daggers, the surprise on her face showed he had caught her off guard.

"Fine kid, have it your way," she said before attacking him. Her blade work was beautiful, Sothe thought to himself as he dueled her. Similar to Volke's, but not as powerful or fast, although her defenses were probably better, and she seemed more agile too. There's no way I'm going to win like this, not unless I do something, unexpected. In addition to the usual forms and techniques, Volke had recently begun teaching Sothe more advanced moves. Volke himself had created one, and it was therefore highly unlikely that Umbra would know it, so it might just give Sothe an edge. What he needed was for her to try and stab him, if he could just get her to think she'd opened his defenses…

Eventually Sothe managed it. By leaving both his daggers out in the open a split second too long she took his bait and used one of hers to sweep both of his to the side while stabbing forward with the other. It was perfectly executed, but it was exactly what Sothe needed her to do. He pretended to try and doge the stab but slip and fall to the floor. When he pretended to fall she smirked in success and moved in for the kill, but Sothe hadn't slipped. He proved he was no mean acrobat himself by turning his fall into flip so he ended up on his knees and in a perfect position to stab into her exposed knees. If only they were exposed. He had no idea how she could have reacted so quickly but her daggers were there to block his and he improvised by quickly rolling away and getting to his feet. He was very nervous now, the one card he had up his sleeve had failed him.

"I only know one man alive who knows enough to not only perform, but teach someone else that move. So, Fireman, is it really you?" she said, not addressing Sothe now, but instead staring out the window to where the Liberation army was preparing their invasion. 'Well, boy?"

"Yes," said Sothe, assuming she was talking about Volke, the only person he knew who went by the name Fireman.

"Isn't that interesting. After I kill you I might just seek him out. He is the only person who's beaten me in single combat, and it's time I paid him back in kind. Well, first this. Let's see which of his apprentices are stronger, prepare yourself," and with that she leapt at Sothe, bringing her full force to bear this time.

It seemed that Umbra had been holding back before. Her strength was now almost equal to Volke's, but consequently her defenses were more open. If Sothe had had any time to think about attacking he might have been able to find an opening. As was he could barely defend himself let alone try to hit her. He was now forced to use both his daggers to stop one of hers and as a result had to keep dodging out of the way of the other dagger. He couldn't keep this up for long, and they both knew it. At first she only managed to score several small cuts, mere scratches really. But after a few minutes she was able to plunge one of her daggers into his left leg, crippling him. As she cruelly twisted the dagger around, Sothe slashed at her head with the dagger in his right hand. Taking her hand off the dagger in his leg, she used her arm to partially block his blow, robbing it of much of its force. Even so he cut a long, if shallow, gash on her cheek and used the momentary distraction to step back and pull the dagger from his leg.

Blood began pouring out of the wound and he quickly cut part of his trousers off to bandage it, not willing to rip his scarf; the only memento he had of Micaiah. He also used the momentary lull to drink from the vulnerary he brought. He felt some small part of his strength return, and when he looked up at Umbra he saw she was applying some salve to the wound, probably to stem the bleeding. This was it, once she finished and their fight resumed he would lose, that was a given. There was no way he could match her speed, skill, or power, she was after all practically as good as his master. He'd never beat her, she held all the cards, she knew his every move and now that she was aware he was her old instructor's pupil she'd never let him live.

Knowing he was about to die, he closed his eyes. Whether she jumped him now and killed him or waited for the fight to resume to do so didn't matter, either way he ended up dead. So he closed his eyes, just to get away from everything. Get away from this fight, the war, mostly to get away from his friends, and the promises he'd made to them that he could no longer keep. 'I'm sorry, Micaiah, Tormod, Muarim, I've failed you, and I want you to know, I'm sorry,' he thought, hoping that wherever they all were, they'd understand.

He was just a child from the streets who'd gotten in way over his head. Fighting a war? Defeating the most feared assassin in Daein? He could never have managed that, his pride, it seemed, would be his downfall. But he left with no regrets. Well, none except one, he did regret abandoning his search for Micaiah. He should have left the army after they captured Daein and resumed his search. It was too late to fix that though, too late to fix anything, really.

"Poor child, don't want to see Death claim you as its own? I understand. Fear not, young thief. You may hide in the darkness if you like, I will make it quick. As you die you can take comfort in the fact that you did have quite a bit of potential," Umbra said as she began to approach Sothe, brandishing her dagger.

She was right; he'd been hiding in the darkness his whole life. Micaiah and Tormod, they'd showed him the light, but he was always a creature of the dark through and though. Some, like Volke, chose it, but there had never been a choice, not for him. Born and raised in it, it was too late to choose any other; he would begin and end, in the shadows.

Wait a minute, the shadows! He did have one more card to play, one more trick up his sleeve! That was the one advantage he had over anyone else not born as he was. If there was one thing a street urchin in a big city could do better than anyone else it was see in the dark. He'd been doing it his whole life, even Volke didn't have night vision as developed as his.

"I'm coming, Micaiah," Sothe said as he quickly drew his last knife and threw it at the solitary lamp in the room, the only source of light. It crashed to the floor, the candle inside went out, plunging the room into darkness.

"Oh very clever, very clever indeed. But you're a fool if you think that'll be enough to-" Umbra began, but was interrupted as Sothe pressed the attack. He only had a minute or two at most before her eyes adjusted and he'd need every second of it to slip past her defenses and end their duel.

Umbra may have denied it, but it appeared to Sothe that his plan was indeed working. She now only had one dagger and, while she could most likely make out his form there would be a small delay between when he began swinging a dagger at her, and when she noticed it. As a result he would hopefully be able to get her to commit to a fake slash in one direction so he could hit her in the other.

Just then voices could be heard below as someone came upon the dead bodies littered there. 'Time to finish this,' Umbra thought to herself, stepping forward to impale the boy. But, he was gone. Before Umbra could do more than register the fact that the kid had suddenly disappeared she felt a sharp pain in her back as a dagger was shoved into it. As soon as Umbra's attention had been diverted by the voices below Sothe dived, rolling around her. In the darkness she didn't see it and as she stepped forward to kill him he instead jumped up behind her and stabbed upwards. She stumbled forward for a second, trying to reach back there and pull it out when she was suddenly hit from behind by something that felt very much like a small boy's foot. Unable to stop her forward momentum, she crashed through the closed window, and fell to the hard earth below, defeated.

* * *

When the spies Sothe was supposed to be leading found him on the top floor he was still standing where he was when Umbra fell out the window, and bleeding very profusely.

"Sir?" one of the men said after a few seconds.

"Everyone's dead, your free to wait here until the signal is given. If one of you could help me with these wounds, I'd appreciate it," Sothe said, not having the energy to explain exactly what happened. 'But that's the advantage to being in charge, then you don't have to explain yourself,' he thought as the men rushed to follow his orders.

Thanks to Sothe his team was far ahead of schedule, so there was a lot of waiting around for the rest of the army to get ready to take the castle. He took the time to relax in one of the chairs and think about what had happened. He'd been a hair's breadth away from dying, and all because he'd overreacted to Tormod's words. So what if he wasn't the strongest soldier out there? He'd just taken out an assassin; he was clearly no normal thief either.

Off in the distance the beat of the war drums could be heard. 'There it is,' Sothe thought as several of the Begnion spies began to raise the gate.

"Sir, the Greil Mercenaries have entered the courtyard and are engaging King Daein," one of the spies told Sothe.

'Couldn't have figured that out,' Sothe thought to himself as he clearly heard Ike and Ashnard shouting out orders.

Sothe limped over to the window to watch as the Greil Mercenaries destroyed the last obstacle between them and the Mad King of Daein. Though they may have been Ashnard's hand picked soldiers, Ike too had brought only the best, as well as the hawk king Tibarn and the dragon Nasir. And there were Tormod and Muarim, killing soldiers and dragons left and right. It seemed none could compete with them, "I certainly couldn't,' Sothe thought involuntarily. It seemed he had not been completely cured of that sickness. Nonetheless he pushed it down as far as it would go and tried to lock it away in the deepest corner of his mind. Never again would he be so blinded as to risk his life for nothing, he swore by the Goddess that he would not let that happen a second time.

It was a battle worthy of all the many songs written about it and more. Ike's fight with Ashnard was perhaps the greatest duel Sothe had ever seen. The Mad King was huge, and his dragon was the size of Nasir, when Nasir was transformed, that is. But Ike's unparalleled swordsmanship proved the deciding factor.

Ragnell cut deep into Ashnard's cruel heart, ending the war, freeing Crimea, and starting Daein on the long path of ascension. Finally, their trials were over.

* * *

When Sothe at last managed to limp his way down the stairs and out into the courtyard he found Volke waiting for him.

"I see you decided to play the hero," Volke told him, blunt as Ike.

Sothe merely nodded at this, deciding it was better to wait until he knew what Volke thought about his actions before he started speaking.

"Almost bit off more than you could chew though. Umbra's no push over," Volke continued.

"No sir, but I won in the end,"

"Did you now?" Volke said, pointing to spot behind Sothe.

Turning his head Sothe tried to look where Volke was pointing, but didn't see anything. Then it hit him, that was where Umbra's body had fallen, but then, where was she?

"Looks like you let her get away, rookie mistake kid. Never let your target out of your sight until their head has been disconnected from their body,"

"I'm sorry, sir," Sothe apologized, wondering how on Tellius she could have survived that fall.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to. It's everyone she'll kill because you left her alive. And eventually you'll have to face her again, and I wonder if you'll survive another round with her. She's not one to take defeat lightly, and I should know," Volke said

Sothe hung his head, acknowledging his mistake.

"Well, it's not all bad. We did win a war after all, always a nice accomplishment to have under your belt. And even though she's still alive, you did defeat one of the foremost assassins in all of Tellius. For that, I think you're worthy of this," Volke said, handing Sothe a piece of paper.

Taking it, Sothe saw that it appeared to be some sort of contract.

"That's called a Fell Contract," Volke explained, "It shows you're either an assassin-in-training, the next level up for a thief, or a rogue, which is the equivalent except for a whisperer. If you'd followed the plan I'd still have given it to you, but with the whisperer option only. Your performance though showed me you do have the potential for an assassin, so be proud of that, if nothing else,"

"Thank you, sir," Sothe said, slightly overcome at the magnitude of Volke's gift. Imagine, him, an assassin, he'd be unbeatable. Sothe, the deadliest man on Tellius, had a nice ring to it didn't it?

But, it would mean leaving Tormod, Muarim, all his friends, and most of all abandoning his search for Micaiah, permanently. Assassins operated alone, there was no other way to do it, Volke had said that time and time again. Sothe couldn't bring himself to do it, he just couldn't. It may mean he would always have to live with this feeling of inadequacy, but at least he'd have a reason to live, and he'd learn to control it, he knew he could.

Smiling, Sothe wrote in the word "rogue" with Volke's pen, and signed his name at the bottom.

"Good choice, kid," Volke said, "Never give up on your friends, even if it costs you everything you've ever wished for, I know from experience. If you do, you'll find yourself very similar to Ashnard, or Umbra. Ambition without friendship only leads to one place. All right, enough philosophy. I'll be off soon; I've got some work to do for another employer. Good luck with your training, for once I agree with Umbra, you've got potential,"

"Wait, how did you-" Sothe began, confused as to how he knew what Umbra told him.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again, although next time it might be on opposite sides of the battlefield. Good luck finding your "sister". And one last piece of advice, if I were you I'd start my search where you left it off, you might find something you missed last time,"

With that Volke walked off, ignoring Sothe's look of complete confusion. What did he mean, "where you left it off"? Did he mean Port Toha, where he joined the Greil Mercenaries? Begnion, when he decided to stick with them even though he could have left to find Micaiah on his own? Or was he talking about Nevassa, when he decided to see this war through to the end even if it meant truly giving up his search, if only for the time being?

"The one time he wasn't completely blunt…" Sothe muttered to himself as he limped away after Volke to join the others for their festivities. Once he'd said goodbye to Tormod and Maurim he'd resume his search for Micaiah. Now that the war was over it was time for him, like every other soldier still breathing, to go home, back to the only family he had left.


End file.
